Abuja – The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) said it had set up a department known as ‘Solid Minerals Defenders Department’ to protect all the solid mineral sites in the country.
This is contained in a statement issued by Emmanuel Okeh, the Spokesperson of the Corps, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
The statement said the establishment of the department was as a result of a recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Solid Minerals and the Ministry of Interior on behalf of the NSCDC.
According to Abdullahi Gana, the Commandant-General of the NSCDC, this was in line with the Corps’ mandate to protect critical Infrastructure and National Assets against vandals, saboteurs and human scavengers.
Gana said that the ministry of solid minerals had covered the cost of training of personnel to enable officers and men of the Corps to understand the different mineral deposits and detect illegal miners, among others.
The statement also said that the new department was under the Directorate of Critical Infrastructure and National Assets to be headed by Commandant Alpha Ikpeamanam.
Okeh also disclosed to NAN that a total of 5,000 personnel had been deployed to the various mining sites across the country.
He said that personnel of the Solid Mineral Defenders Department had already started operation in different mining sites across the country, and that arrests of some illegal miners had been made by the Corps. (NAN)
