Mining Marshals, DECAN Mulls Partnership to Crush Illegal Mining Cartels
Oru Leonard
The Commander of the Mining Marshals of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr John Attah Onoja, has called for stronger collaboration with the Defence Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DECAN) to tackle illegal mining and disrupt the financial networks sustaining banditry, kidnapping and terrorism.
Onoja made the call on Thursday in Abuja when the leadership of DECAN, led by its President, Mr Odita Sunday, paid a courtesy visit to his office.
He said the Mining Marshals would intensify intelligence-driven operations aimed at dismantling illegal mining networks and restoring order to the nation’s mining sector, which he noted had become increasingly linked to national security concerns.
According to him, illegal mining goes beyond the loss of government revenue and environmental degradation, as proceeds from illicit mining could provide financial resources for criminal and terrorist activities.
Onoja said tackling the financial backbone of criminality was as important as confronting armed groups directly.
“It is not necessarily about picking up weapons and fighting bandits or kidnappers. We must ask: how do the people in those forests feed? How do they get money?” he said.
He explained that cutting off illicit financial flows would reduce the capacity of criminal groups to sustain their operations.
“We want to make criminality less lucrative. You can only make it less lucrative if the illicit flow of finances to terrorist groups is disrupted,” he said.
The commander disclosed that the Mining Marshals had adopted an intelligence-led approach involving the identification, arrest, investigation and prosecution of offenders.
He added that the operation would sustain its presence in mining communities as part of its deterrence strategy, despite challenges relating to manpower, logistics and other operational requirements.
Onoja urged defence correspondents to support the campaign through professional, accurate and sustained reporting on the economic, environmental and security implications of illegal mining.
“I do not take your role for granted. The sanitised mining sector of our dream will be achieved through collaboration, and the major stakeholder in that collaboration is the media,” he said.
He also appealed to journalists to assess the performance of the Mining Marshals within the context of the resources available to the operation, noting that inadequate logistics remained a significant challenge.
Onoja identified alleged collusion between some compromised officials and illegal miners as another major obstacle to the fight against illegal mining.
“The major bottleneck we face today is not necessarily the number of illegal miners out there, but the number of compromised officials of institutions and agencies that are supposed to be partners in the fight against illegal mining,” he said.
He alleged that some compromised officials had resorted to blackmail and petitions against personnel of the Mining Marshals in an attempt to frustrate their operations.
“That is corruption fighting back,” he said, insisting that the campaign against illegal mining must be genuine, deliberate and conducted without bias or selective enforcement.
Earlier, DECAN President, Odita Sunday, said the association recognised the serious economic, environmental and security implications of illegal mining and commended the Federal Government and NSCDC for establishing the Mining Marshals.
He said illegal mining was threatening the environment and national revenue while increasingly presenting a national security challenge.
Odita stressed the need for closer cooperation among security agencies, government institutions, the media, traditional authorities, mining communities and other stakeholders to address the problem.
“As defence correspondents, we understand that effective security operations require not only the commitment of security agencies but also responsible and accurate public communication,” he said.
He assured the Mining Marshals of DECAN’s commitment to giving appropriate coverage to their activities while ensuring that media reports did not compromise operational security or the safety of personnel.
Odita also called for open and regular communication between the Mining Marshals and accredited defence correspondents to reduce misinformation, speculation and inaccurate reporting of security operations.
He said access to timely and verified information would help the public better understand the dangers associated with illegal mining and the measures being adopted by the authorities to combat it.
The DECAN president further proposed regular briefings, field visits and other professional engagements between the association and the Mining Marshals to strengthen mutual understanding and improve public communication.
He maintained that the fight against illegal mining was a collective responsibility requiring the active participation of security agencies, government institutions, the media, traditional leaders, mining communities and other stakeholders.
The Mining Marshals was established on March 21, 2024, as a specialised NSCDC operation mandated to combat illegal mining and protect Nigeria’s critical mineral resources.
