Some experts have commended the federal government for procuring eight gun trucks for mining marshals to intensify efforts to combat illegal mining nationwide.

They said on Sunday in Abuja that the move would enhance the capacity of the mining marshals, a unit under the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), to protect the country’s mineral resources.

The federal government recently deployed gun trucks to strengthen marshals’ operations in combating illegal mining and safeguarding the country’s mineral resources.

Abdullahi Jabi, a security consultant, said the development was long overdue, adding that it would help curb the activities of illegal immigrants entering the country to exploit mineral resources due to poor regulation and porous borders.

Mr Jabi, the managing director of Kudus International Security Nigeria Limited, said the initiative would enhance the operational capacity of security personnel in the field to curb the activities of illegal miners who were often associated with banditry.

“They are part of those aiding criminality in most communities for banditry to take place,” he said.

He urged the mining marshals to resist bribery and other inducements and remain disciplined to prevent illegal miners from exploiting the nation’s resources.

According to him, failure to do so can create room for illegal miners to continue exploiting the nation’s resources and frustrate efforts to diversify the economy.

Philip Jakpor, the executive director of Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), described the move as a positive step but stressed the need for complementary actions to ensure its effectiveness.

“For instance, giving communities more in terms of host communities fund and involving the local communities in the monitoring or policing of their environment,” he said.

A mining operator, who requested anonymity, described the move as a positive development aimed at repositioning the sector to contribute significantly to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP).

He, however, said stakeholders should be adequately consulted on decisions concerning the sector to promote inclusiveness and achieve the desired results.

A local vigilante official, Dauda Audu, said the move would send a strong message to illegal miners that it was no longer business as usual.

He said it would also reassure host communities that the government was determined to sanitise the sector, given that the presence of mineral resources in communities could fuel insecurity.

The mining marshals were inaugurated in 2024 to address the surge in illegal mining operations and protect the country’s mineral resources.

The security personnel were drawn from the NSCDC and trained in strategic and tactical skills to detect, engage, and combat illegal miners, bandits, and other criminal elements in the sector.

(NAN)