A civil society and pressure group, non-profit and anti-corruption organization, Citizens Watch Advocacy Initiative, CWAI, has stated that the crackdown on illegal miners has saved the economy huge financial revenue loss as a result of securing the mining sector which is a vital component of Nigeria’s economy. The CSO further observed that this destruction of over 350 illegal refineries has also assisted to reduce the menace of oil theft in the Niger Delta region as well as the arrest and recovery of critical assets and railway materials worth over 5 billion Naira.

It is instructive that the creation of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC’s Special Mines Marshals to combat the menace of illegal mining has also enabled the reduction of mining theft, oil and gas sector of the country as the present management of the NSCDC under the leadership of Dr Abubakar Audi is determined to nip in the bud these challenges once and for all.

Howbeit, the creation of the Civil Defence Academy in Jos, Plateau State, for career development and progression; the creation of NSCDC Arms Squad Training School at Ugede Development Area in Nasarawa LGA of Nasarawa State is very instructive; the massive acquisition of mini fire fighter tankers for disaster management in case of emergencies are worthy of note and big morale booster for the corps and the procurement of Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) vehicles for the NSCDC to use in fighting criminalities across the country is a welcome development under the present administration.

In a press release signed in Warri, Delta State by the Executive Secretary of Citizens Watch Advocacy Initiative (CWAI), Omoba Kenneth Aigbegbele on Tuesday, the CSO identified bad governance, abject poverty and unemployment as some of the root causes of attacks on our critical oil and gas assets including the mining sector in the country. He stated that poverty and hunger have contributed to the damages being recorded in the oil and gas facilities and that the degradation of the environment due to exploration and oil spills has not helped matters as it has deprived communities’ access to their traditional methods of livelihoods.

The organization observed that: “There is therefore the need to confront and tackle poverty and other issues, so as to reduce the menace.” That government should deploy special equipment, create forums to engage the various communities, collaborate and partner with private security guards, armed forces and intelligence services to stem the tide of oil theft and mining plundering.

In an effort to curb Illegal mining and create safe mining environment recently, the Federal Government commissioned 350 additional operatives of the NSCDC as mining marshals. This is happening barely few months after the first batch of 2,220 mining marshals were inaugurated. This is as the marshals underscore the Federal Government’s commitment to reforming the unlicensed operators across the country. According to reports, since the inauguration, over 200 illegal mining suspects have been arrested, 133 prosecutions underway and confiscated illegally mined minerals forfeited to the Federal Government. CWAI gathered that as part of its efforts to strengthen, protect and safeguard schools across the country, the Save School Initiative was launched for the protection of vulnerable schools and to reduce the menace of kidnapping in schools and the creation of the NSCDC Female Squad to aid in tackling kidnappings and other restiveness in schools which has yielded enormous dividends by the reduction of this heinous crime.

CWAI noted the various institutional nationwide reformations presently taking place across the corps as well as the new sense of belonging, increase in welfare packages for the corps, prompt payment of emoluments, allowances including the zero tolerance for corruption initiated by the new management. This, without doubt, has given the corps a pride of place in the paramilitary organizations in the country and has raised the ‘esprit-de-corps’ of the men and officers like never before seen. The robust welfare, motivated packages through massive promotions, conversion, upgrading and other benefits-in-kind are really commendable and not to mention the construction of official and residential buildings within and outside the NSCDC headquarters, including the procurement of operational and office equipment and the purchase of over 200 operation vehicles are also worthy of note.

The arrest of students for acts unbecoming of them across institutions of learning in the country; arrest of practitioners of same sex marriages is a major milestone; the commendations given by governors of Zamfara, Gombe, Ogun, Jigawa and Katsina states recently are also worth mentioning; the reduction of the incessant herders’ and farmers’ clashes and cattle rustling; the deployment of undercover corps officers to schools;  the collaboration with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to reduce criminal activities across the country with the toga ‘See Something, Say Something;” the robust relationships of inter-agency corporations and partnerships with sister agencies such as the Navy, Army, Customs, Immigration, NNPC, and civil society organizations, is a major achievement that must be applauded; the consistent advocacies carried out by the CG to intimate and assure Nigerians to believe in the corps’ operations to engender faith in security agencies, are all worthy of note.

The continued fight against cyber-crimes, child abuse and the flushing out of illegal guard private operators; the arrest of smugglers, vandals and pipeline/oil thieves in the Niger Delta region have become an Herculean task that must be achieved, according to the CG, saying that the Service “is presently doing all it can to curb the proliferation of small arms across the length and breadth of the country.” He also read the Riot Act to the Corps’ commandants in the Niger Delta states, assuring them that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a zero-tolerance to civil theft. He asked them to do all they can to nib crimes in the bud in line with a presidential order to rid the nation’s oil sector of economic saboteurs, vandals, criminals, oil thieves and other nefarious activities inimical to the growth of the sector.

CWAI can attest to the fact that the giant strides achieved so far by the current leadership are as a result of the strategic directions taken on the commissioning of the Standard Curriculum for NSCDC for entrenching career progression, effective supervision and transparent regulation of the Private Guard Companies in Nigeria which has reduced insecurity across the country. CWAI asserts that this is connected to a new reinvigorated legal department, successes in anti-vandalism, protection of farmers’ physical security at mining sites and the establishment of Special Female Squad (SFS) targeted at boosting the fight against insecurity and the location of the squad in all Commands across the country. This has also enhanced the safe school response coordination and the protection of schools in remote areas and border communities, which is done in collaboration with other security agencies of the Army and the Department of State Services (DSS) to foil attempts to attack schools. This is endorsed by all stakeholders.

Similarly, the Commandant-General has continuously urged security agencies/operatives to shun inter-agency rivalry to foster national security. The CG gave this charge at a recent security seminar tagged “Promoting Inter-Agency Collaboration Among Security Agencies.” He noted that “the rivalry was capable of eroding relationships building over time between security agencies and consequently rubbed off negatively on the provision of adequate security.”

CWAI also endorsed the amicable settlement of conflicts and dispute resolutions between herdsmen, farmers, cattle rustlers and villagers, community leaders and bandits – all championed by the current management of the NSCDC. The pressure group also applauded the vision, mission and the ability to implement its mandate as regards the settlement of disputes through Alternative Dispute Resolute (ADR) between warring parties.

CWAI recognizes the importance of conflict and dispute resolution mechanism in today’s contemporary issues and conflict management, and commended the leadership for thinking out of the box and finding lasting solutions in today’s crises-prone society, where conflicts have become the order of the day with the support of the proactive Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Ojo.

CWAI emphasized a renewed vigour for the increment of national budget allocated to the NSCDC in view of the pivotal role it plays in the reduction of criminal elements in the protection of critical national assets and the reduction of kidnapping in our schools as a result of the school initiative, which if properly funded will give the NSCDC the impetus to do more for the nation and its workforce.

We are encouraged to commend the public procurement and contract approvals, accountability in procurement process and payments. We also applaud the transformation, vision and forthrightness of the leadership in changing the narrative to make the Corps the cynosure of all eyes through discipline, promotion of officers when due and capacity building of officers and men, including building strategic alliances with various ivory towers across the land, to upgrade the service institutions to meet with what is attainable globally and build robust sister inter-agency collaborations.

CWAI, therefore, has no hesitation in passing a vote of confidence on the Dr. Abubakar Audi-led management and calls on the international community and well-meaning Nigerians to support the NSCDC management and allow them to concentrate on their mandate and continuously support the proactive leadership to enable it further its commitment and efforts to the general wellbeing of the nation.