The Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development is intensifying efforts to sanitise Nigeria’s mining sector through a broader institutional collaboration with the Mining Marshals, expanding the security outfit’s role beyond its conventional enforcement mandate against illegal miners.
It was gathered that the ministry is increasingly integrating the Mining Marshals into strategic operations involving investigations, intelligence gathering, compliance monitoring and fact-finding missions aimed at strengthening regulatory oversight and accountability across the solid minerals sector.
In a bid to expand operational framework of the security outfit to enable it tackle the menace of illegal mining effectively, the ministry recently embarked on an operational tour of mining sites in parts of Northern Nigeria alongside the Mining Marshals.
The ministry under the leadership of the minister, Dr Dele Alake, initiated the operational engagements, with the Mining Marshals participating as part of the ministry’s coordinated drive to strengthen monitoring, regulatory compliance and operational oversight within the sector.
The team, which was led on different occasions by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Engr Faruk Yusuf Yabo, who represented the minister, visited several mining sites across Nasarawa and Plateau States.
During one of the operational and fact-finding missions, officials of the ministry, alongside the Commander of the Mining Marshals, ACC Attah John Onoja, visited a mining site allegedly being illegally exploited.
The initiative, industry stakeholders say, reflects the federal government’s evolving strategy towards repositioning the mining industry as a transparent, secure and investment-friendly sector capable of driving economic diversification.
The visit, according to officials, formed part of ongoing efforts by the ministry to verify allegations of unlawful mining activities, assess compliance with extant mining regulations and obtain field-based information necessary for administrative, regulatory and possible enforcement actions.
The delegation also included key directors and senior officials of the ministry such as Engr Frank Odoom, Director of Special Duties; Engr Imam A. Ganiyu, Director of Mines Inspectorate; Andrew Zubiri, Director of Legal Services; and Ibrahim Abdulmajeed J., representative of the Director General of the Mining Cadastre Office (MCO).
Findings indicated that the operational tour further reinforced the federal government’s commitment towards building a sanitised mining sector where host communities, investors, mine workers, institutions and other stakeholders can operate under a more secure and regulated environment.
Officials further noted that the engagements created an important feedback mechanism between government authorities and mining communities, enabling concerns relating to illegal mining, environmental practices, security challenges and regulatory compliance to be directly communicated to the ministry.
Observers believe the ministry’s decision to incorporate the Mining Marshals into broader institutional and investigative operations underscores a more coordinated national response towards tackling illegal mining and strengthening governance within the solid minerals industry.
Under the leadership of Dele Alake, the ministry has sustained reforms targeted at curbing illegal mining, improving sectoral monitoring and restoring investor confidence in Nigeria’s mineral resources value chain.
The Mining Marshals, a specialised security architecture established to combat illegal mining and protect licensed operators, have continued to support the ministry’s reform agenda through operational collaboration, intelligence support and inter-agency coordination across mining communities nationwide.