The Ministry of Defence says it is collaborating with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development on securing mining fields across Nigeria.
The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, and his counterpart, the Minister of State Defence, Bello Matawalle, said this on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake, while fielding questions from news reporters.
“The Ministry of Defence and all relevant military agencies are involved in this revitalized security architecture, and part of my agenda to transform the solid minerals sector is to actively work towards establishing a Mines Surveillance Task Force and a Mines Police,” the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Alake, was quoted as saying.
I am pleased to share that the Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru CON, and the Minister of State, Bello Matawelle, have assured me of their unwavering support for my effort to create a revamped security architecture for the mining sector.
During a courtesy visit to my office,… pic.twitter.com/it6fcCfbG4
— Dele Alake (@AlakeDele) November 16, 2023
“The purpose of the visit by the two of us is to discuss how we can provide security in the mining areas.
“We are working to provide security on the farms as well as provide security in the mining sector to make the country earn the much needed foreign currency; mining sector is critical to help rejuvenate the economy,” said the Defence Minister, Mohammed Badaru.
Responding to the initiative of creating a Mines Police by the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Minister Badaru lauded the concept, assuring that it will receive the necessary boost from the military.
“We have to clear the territory, as military, to ensure safety. When the Mines Police come, they can take it up from there and continue to provide security in those mining areas,” he added.
In his comments, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake, reaffirmed the need to secure the mineral sector:
“The main essence is to secure our minerals sector. I have been saying it, even to foreign and local investors, that we need to secure our mineral sector so that the operators – both local and foreign – can have a free and unfettered atmosphere to operate… so that we can derive maximum benefits from these God-given resources.
“And I have been saying it that I am working in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence, and inter-military agencies are involved; all the security architecture that we are reinvigorating.”
