The House of Representatives on Wednesday unveiled plans to investigate allegations of financial impropriety within the Mining Marshals, specifically the reported discovery of over N2 billion in the bank account of a State Commander of the unit.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion on the need to investigate the performance, funding, legal status, and alleged corrupt practices and compromise of the Mining Marshals, sponsored by Hon. Abdulmaleek Danga.
In his lead debate, Hon. Danga recalled that on March 21, 2024, the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Interior, inaugurated a specialised security unit known as the Mining Marshals Corps, comprising over 2,200 personnel drawn from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
According to him, the statutory backing relied upon for the creation of the unit was in tandem with Section 3 of the NSCDC Act, alongside the regulatory framework of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007.
He observed that the primary objectives of establishing the Mining Marshals were to secure mining sites, eliminate illegal mining, curb banditry in mineral-rich communities, and safeguard federal revenues generated from the solid minerals sector.
“The House is concerned by reports indicating a deviation from this mandate, characterized by allegations that the Mining Marshals lack deep operational knowledge of the mining sector, resulting in the wrongful apprehension and harassment of legitimate mineral title holders while misrepresenting these actions to the public as successful crackdowns on illegal operators.
“The House is also concerned by grave allegations of financial impropriety within the unit, specifically the reported discovery of over N2 billion in the bank account of a State Commander of the Mining Marshals.
“The House is worried that instead of a formal judicial inquiry, prosecution, or internal disciplinary action, the said Commander was merely redeployed, fuelling allegations that the Marshals are being compromised by affluent illegal mining syndicates.
“The House is disturbed by the lack of fiscal transparency surrounding the unit, notably the recent procurement and allocation of operational vehicles to the Marshals without a clear record of legislative appropriation or budgetary allocation from the parent agency, thereby exposing the unit to extrabudgetary expenditure.
“The House is convinced that these operational and financial anomalies directly undermine Nigeria’s economic interests, resulting in mineral revenue leakages, heightened insecurity, and a deterioration of investor confidence in the solid minerals sector,” he noted.
To this end, Deputy Speaker Hon. Benjamin Kalu mandated the Committee on Solid Minerals Development to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the actions and performance of the Mining Marshals across the country to determine whether they are operating within their lawful mandate.
The committee is also expected to investigate allegations of corrupt enrichment, including the N2 billion account linkage against a former State Commander and similar cases of compromise across the 36 states and the FCT, as well as the source of funding for the recent purchase of operational vehicles, all external financial inflows, the legal and budgetary provisions backing the expenditures of the Mining Marshals, and the statutory compliance of the unit’s creation, structure, and composition, with a view to recommending an internationally recognised, legally compliant security model. The committee is to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.