The National Unity and Peace Corps, (NUPEC) has commenced training of its personnel across the country in readiness for securing mining sites, host communities and government revenue ahead of the passage of Nigeria Mines Ranger Service Bill in the Senate wing of the National Assembly.
Commandant General of NUPEC, Dr. Chinedu Nneji who spoke with journalists after the training of some personnel on Saturday in Abuja said that he is confident that President Bola Tinubu will sign the bill and therefore getting its staff ready for the task ahead.
He said that “the bill known as Nigerian Mine Ranger Service, (SB253) which has gotten to the stage of third reading, at the National Assembly is owned by this organization, and sponsored senator representing Nasarawa South Senatorial District, Senator Onawo Ogoshi. At this stage, we are preparing our officers to be able to combat all forms of illegal mining in our forests and in all parts of the country.
“This is a regular training, to prepare our officers for this combative approach to regulate and stop all forms of illegal mining in the country. We have started it. This is a campaign and we’ll continue with it and we will go around all parts of the country to be able to sensitize people about this project. This training we are just concluding, is known as ‘Mining Administration and Control’.
“You can see that the name is broad. The idea is to train our people to broaden their mind on the activities of illegal mining and how to combat it, how to generate revenue for government, how to provide security in that sector and how to interact with the international community as far as these mining activities are involved” he said.
The Commandant General said that even as the Bill is still on the incubation stage, the Corps is involved in securing some mining sites to ensure that illegal operations are discouraged in several parts of the country.
“Before the passage of the bill, our people are actually actively involved in combating these illegal activities going on in different parts of the country. Our people have been actively involved in states like Kaduna, Kano, Enugu and Osun states. These are places where activities of mining have been going on and our people are very much involved.
“We have done a lot of things in that aspect. The only thing we’re waiting for is the enabling law from the National Assembly which we have started in earnest and we believe that the President will sign the bill into law as soon as the National Assembly concludes”.
While acknowledging that it will be a suicide mission for an unarmed personnel to confront illegal miners who are in most cases, armed and ready to unleash violence, Nneji said that the bill may be tweaked in such a way that personnel assigned for combative duties will be allowed to carry arms.
“Well, it will be very instructive and pertinent for the National Assembly to grant us that approval of the use of firearms. When that approval is granted, it will enable us to be combative and protect all forms of banditry near the mines. Of course, you know that the type of banditry we are having in the mining sector is from bandits who try to colonize the mine and do their illegal mining in our forests.
“So for us to be able to tackle them, we need to be also combative in nature and also match them power to power. We have already trained our men to be very combative. What we need to do now is to continue to expose them to intellectual ability to handle arms which we have started doing right now”.
Nneji assured that when the Bill is eventually signed into law, NUPEC will collaborate with sister agencies in a joint operation to ensure that illegal mining is stamped out and the country will get maximum revenue from the mining industry.
“From the law that is being prepared, we are going to introduce what is called joint task force in that area. We are going to collaborate with other security agencies. We are not chasing them, but every security agency has their primary mandate, which is different from our own.
“Our own is to protect the mining sector and no other security agency has that in their enabling law. Therefore, at the end of the day, we’ll still collaborate with them to make sure that this area, this mandate given to us will be a huge success” Nneji said.
The NUPEC boss expressed confidence that the Senate will pass the bill as soon as it convenes in May. He also assured that the Corps has enough men on ground to kick start the task even as the said that he is also disposed to take inputs from government in terms of engaging new personnel or even reducing the existing number.
