The Bill aim to prevent, combat illegal mining, artisanal mining and other crimes in the mining sector.
Spark News Daily reports that the bill was sponsored by Senator Mohammed Onawo (Nasarawa South/PDP) and passed through the second reading.
Speaking at a 1-day public hearing on the Bill, the Commandant General of NSCDC, Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, said the establishment of NMRS is unnecessary duplication of job, emphasizing that the Corps is wholeheartedly against it.
Dr. Audi stated that the bill is an attempt to take the core mandate of the NSCDC and hand it over to the Police, adding that the circumstances surrounding it appeared to be a deliberate plan to weaken the fight against illegal mining in Nigeria which NSCDC has been in the forefront of.
According to him, the bill is not only a duplication of the NSCDC act and iit’s andate, but “it’s also an attempt to usurped the mandate statutorily given to the Corps and in a disguised way hand it over to the Nigeria Police Force through the back door”.
The Commandant General disclosed that NSCDC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Solid Minerals has established a Mining Marshall, selected from the Special Forces Department and trained by the military to combat illegal mining.
According to him, the Marshall has destroyed and sealed over one hundred illegal mining sites, and arrested over 50 suspects including Chinese nationals.
He said the Marshall has also arrested traditional rulers indulging in illegal mining activities.
“The Corps acknowledges the effort of the committee and the Senate towards making laws that will improve the well-being of every citizen of this great nation.
“However, Mr chairman, we are strongly opposed to the provision of this bill as presently constituted. We vehemently hold that the proposed establishment of the Nigeria Mines Rangers Service and the function the proposed body is to perform is an infringement of the core mandate of NSCDC”, he said.
In his submission, a member of the committee, Senator Allwell Onyesoh, urged the Senate to empower the NSCDC to fight illegal mining rather than establishing NMRS.
He called on the Senate to urge the Executive to employ more personnel into the Corps, saying that doing so will empower the Corps and save the country the cost of building offices and structures for the new outfit in the 36 States of the Federation.
“You create one thing, tomorrow you destroy it, and then you want to create another…I think what is required now is not the creation of another, it’s to empower NSCDC to work better.
“We have the problem of oil pilfering in the Niger Delta, I can tell they are doing a good job. They can do more and for them to do more they need to be empowered, not creating another”, he said.
