How illegal mining fuels terrorism, banditry, violent crimes – Commander mining marshals
How illegal mining fuels terrorism, banditry, violent crimes – Commander mining marshals
The Commander of Mining Marshal Unit, of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Assistant Commandant of Corps (ACC) John Onoja, has attributed rising incidents of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and violent crimes across the country to illegal mining.
ACC Onoja stated this while receiving members of the Defence Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DECAN) led by its President, Mr. Odita Sunday during a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja.
He said for Nigeria to succeed in the fight against insecurity, it must disrupt their source of funding and make it less lucrative.
“It is no longer news that illegal mining fuels banditry, kidnapping and other forms of violent extremism.
“If we can stop or disrupt the funding of insecurity, it means we have succeeded in protecting Nigeria from security threats arising from kidnapping, banditry and terrorism.
“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?
“By the time they start getting hungry, gradually their morale will drop. Some will begin to think about reuniting with their families.
“Those who left school because they considered criminality an easy way to make money may reconsider and return to school. Others may return to legitimate livelihoods, such as riding motorcycles popularly known as okada.
“We therefore want to make criminality less lucrative. You can only make it less lucrative if the illicit flow of finances to terrorist groups is disrupted.
“How do we disrupt it? Through a deliberate effort to ensure that the fight against illegal mining is genuine, properly enforced and carried out without bias or selectivity,” he said.
ACC Onoja said compromised officials in government Institutions and agencies constitutes one of the biggest obstacles in the fight against illegal mining, adding that he has been investigated by all security agencies in country over frivolous allegations.
He alleged that some of the officials collude with illegal miners to blackmail mining marshals.
He said, “The major problem and bottleneck we face today is not necessarily the number of illegal miners out there, but the number of compromised officials within institutions and agencies that should be partners in the fight against illegal mining.
“Some of these officials collude with illegal miners and weaponise blackmail against the Mining Marshals, attempting to bring down the operation at all costs, including attempts to take lives.
“It is not something we can ignore because, obviously, it is the grace of God that has kept some of us going.
“I will use this opportunity to say that virtually every security institution in this country has investigated me over allegations which, in my view, came from the sky.
“Whenever I submit myself for investigation, not even 0.005 per cent of the allegations is proven,” he said.
Earlier, Odita said DECAN recognised the critical security and economic implications of illegal mining and commended the Federal Government and NSCDC for establishing the Mining Marshals.
He said illegal mining threatened the environment, national revenue and increasingly national security, making effective collaboration among security agencies, the media and other stakeholders imperative.
Odita said defence correspondents remained committed to professional journalism, accuracy, fairness and the national interest in reporting security operations.
“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.
