The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, says security agencies will chart modalities for securing Nigeria’s natural resources.

Mr Alake said the move aimed to prevent a recurrence of the Ibadan explosion and address insecurity in the solid minerals sector.

He disclosed this at a news conference shortly after the meeting of the Presidential Inter-Ministerial Committee on Securing Nigeria’s Natural Resources on Thursday in Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu set up the committee on January 17 to produce a blueprint for securing Nigeria`s natural resources, including mineral sites, marine economy, and forests.

At the end of the committee`s maiden meeting on January 19, the minister announced that the committee would be expanded to include key security agencies.

The expansion aims to produce comprehensive security strategies and is forwarded to the President for appropriate action.

Alake explained that the security agencies included in the committee would deliberate on strategies for addressing the insecurity due to their expertise in the sector.

“We have deliberated exhaustively, and it’s decided that the security agencies that constitute the experts in this particular venture should meet and give us a work plan on execution of that mandate,“ he said.

He said they would meet in a fortnight for further deliberations on the work plan.

He added that the work plan would include information on the outfits the committee would propose, modalities for execution, funding and other associated details.

According to the minister, its recommendations are hoped to avert any reoccurrence of the Ibadan explosion. He further explained that the government was still awaiting forensic results on the blast, which he described as critical in determining its line of action.

(NAN)