A bill seeking to establish the Nigeria Mine Rangers Service (NMRS) has been rejected by major stakeholders in the country’s mining sector, including the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Ministry of Interior and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Mohammed Onawo (PDP, Nasarawa-South) seeks to establish the NMRS to combat illegal mining and banditry and other criminal acts linked to mining activities.
The bill has already passed second reading at the Senate.
Nigeria is said to lose over $9 billion to illegal mining yearly, according to the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals, Hon. Jonathan Gbefwi.
On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development chaired by Sen. Ekong Sampson, conducted a public hearing on the bill to get the input of stakeholders.
However, as the session opened, major stakeholders opposed the bill.
For instance, both the Ministry of Solid Minerals and the Ministry of Interior kicked against the bill on the grounds that it duplicated existing agencies, especially the NSCDC.
The Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Dele Alake, who was represented by the Director, Mines Directorate, Mr Imam Ganiyu, told the hearing that the ministry had gone a step ahead to establish a special mines task force to combat illegal mining in synergy with existing agencies because of the “multifaceted” nature of illegal mining activities.
He added, “The Special Mine Surveillance Task Force, comprised of multiple security agencies whose sting operations would be coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) under the overarching of the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development, as detailed in the Special Mines Surveillance Task Force (SMSTF) Standard Operational Procedure (SOP), offers the best options as an integrated approach to combating illegal mining activities.”
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, simply advised the Senate to amend the NSCDC’s Act to accommodate the proposed rangers service as against establishing another bureaucracy drawing funding from the nation’s budget.
Fagbemi, who was represented by his Director of Legal Drafting, Mr Patrick Etta-Oyo, insisted that the NSCDC was well-positioned to combat illegal mining.
An assistant director, who represented the Ministry of Interior, Mrs Jeraldine Okafor, also backed the position taken by the Solid Minerals Ministry and the AGF.
She stated, “The NSCDC and other organs like the miners’ special task and the police, are trained to combat illegal miners.
“The ministry is of the position that civil defence is part of the existing task force and there is no need to duplicate existing agencies. All we need to do is to adequately equip them for their work.”
The Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Dr. Abubakar Audi, re-echoed the opposition to the bill, reeling out statistics on the operations the agency had so far carried out against illegal miners across the country.
He cited operations carried out in the North Central areas of Kogi, Niger, Nasarawa and Benue, where “more than 100 illegal mining sites were closed and sealed shut already”
He claimed that the operations would save over N5.7bn revenue for Nigeria.
“These personnel are trained and selected from our special forces unit.
We, therefore, oppose this bill and hold that the mine rangers will infringe on the core mandate of the NSCDC”, Audi maintained.
Meanwhile, Sen. Onawo, while giving a synopsis of the bill earlier, spoke on the urgency to have the rangers in place, not only to address illegal mining, but also to provide employment for the youths.
The lawmaker painted a scary scenario before the session, saying that foreigners freely flew in and out of Nasarawa state at night to commit all sorts of economic atrocities.
“Foreign nationals come into Nasarawa state to land and take off at night. You don’t know what they bring in and you don’t know what they take away.
“Security agencies are overwhelmed by the activities of bandits, which are not unconnected with the acts of the foreign nationals.
“So, if the mining rangers service comes on board, it will help to check the activities of these bandits and mine thieves; it will create employment”, he told the hearing.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) supported the bill, arguing that it would help revenue generation for Nigeria.
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