When the Senate passed the Nigeria Mines Rangers Service (Establishment) Bill on 21 October, it marked one of the boldest attempts yet to confront the country’s sprawling illegal mining economy.

Lawmakers said the establishment of the new service, if eventually approved by President Bola Tinubu, will become a specialised security outfit stationed directly at mining sites to enforce compliance and protect one of Nigeria’s most neglected but promising sectors.

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The bill, presented by the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development, Ekong Sampson, seeks to establish the Nigeria Mines Rangers Service (NMRS) as an enforcement body with a nationwide footprint.

Under the legislation, the Rangers will operate from a headquarters in Abuja with offices in all states, local governments and area councils.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio stated that the intervention was crucial to enhancing regulation under the existing Mining Act. “This is a timely intervention that will strengthen our regulatory framework and ensure that Nigeria’s mineral resources are properly managed,” he said.

Other lawmakers echoed the urgency of the Rangers. Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South) argued that the Rangers would finally put trained personnel on the ground.

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“If established, the Rangers service will be physically present at mining sites across the country. They will serve as the eyes on the ground to monitor the extraction of our national resources,” he said.

After consideration in the Committee of the Whole, the bill sailed through third reading.

What the bill contains

The bill creates the Mines Rangers Service as a corporate body empowered to prevent and combat illegal and artisanal mining.

It mandates the agency to investigate and arrest suspects, and hand them over to the police for further investigation and prosecution of any person suspected of involvement in or complicity with any criminal activity in the mining industry.

To carry out these functions, the Rangers will maintain an armed squad deployed by the Commandant-General.

The governing board of the service will be the existing Immigration and Prisons Services Board, which will oversee the agency’s policy direction, recruitment, training and conditions of service.

The Nigerian president is to appoint a commander-general for a renewable four-year tenure. The service will also have deputy commanders, assistant commanders, commanders, officers, and other staff as deemed necessary by the board.

Its members will include both volunteers and regular personnel, recruited in accordance with the provisions of the Bill. In addition to law enforcement, the Rangers are expected to serve as eyes on the ground at mining sites, monitoring extraction activities and ensuring compliance with Nigeria’s mining laws.

A sector long hindered by insecurity

For many experts, the bill responds to years of regulatory neglect. A geologist and consultant at the African Mineral Development Centre, Pade Davies, said that insecurity has made even routine fieldwork almost impossible.

“Going to the field now to look for minerals is a problem. I can’t do it. Scientists can’t go to the field. It’s tough,” he told PREMIUM TIMES.

Nigeria hosts significant mineral deposits, including industrial metals, precious stones, columbite, tantalite, limestone, and zinc. Last year, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, estimated the country’s mineral endowment at a conservative $750 billion.

However, the government often loses out on potential revenues due to neglect, weak regulatory enforcement, and corruption. Weak oversight and what some experts call “policy laxity” have allowed unregulated actors, many of them foreign, to dominate mineral extraction.

Mr Davies warned that some investors, particularly Chinese firms, use “bait systems” that promise large infrastructure projects while quietly targeting minerals along the project corridors.

“They flash big offers because they are spending state money. That is why, when dealing with them, you must tighten your intellectual capacity,” he said.

Illegal mining and the security crisis

Nigeria’s illegal mining economy is closely linked to insecurity. President Bola Tinubu has blamed escalating violence in the north partly on unlawful mining, while analysts say profits from the trade help arm militia groups.

SBM Intelligence estimates the annual cost of all forms of illegal mining at $10 billion.

In 2016, the government launched the Nigeria Mining Growth Roadmap 2016 – 2025, setting an ambitious goal of increasing revenue from the solid minerals sector to at least three per cent of total revenue by 2025.

The roadmap listed seven minerals —gold, coal, bitumen, limestone, lead/zinc, iron ore and barytes— as strategic resources capable of diversifying the economy, boosting revenue earnings and sustainable development.

However, the average annual contribution of solid minerals to the GDP since 2019 has been 0.15 per cent.

Recent government actions reflect a more aggressive posture. The Solid Minerals Ministry, under Mr Alake, recently recruited 2,200 mining marshals to address illegal mining and promote a just and secure mining sector. The Rangers’ service is expected to replace the mining marshals, which has no law establishing it, once the bill is signed into law.

Dozens of people were taken into custody by the government in connection with illicit mining operations, in what the mining industry called “the coercive component of the administration’s carrot and stick approach to combating illegal mining undermining security in the sector.”

In the most recent arrests in November, officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) conducted a raid in Edo State. The operation resulted in the arrest of 15 individuals, according to a statement by NSCDC.

Officials said profits from illicit mining practices have helped arm militia groups in the north of the country.

Bringing back the Rangers

To experts like Mr Davies, reintroducing the Rangers is a return to a system Nigeria once depended on.

“All the initiatives we used to have were meant to secure the minesphere. We secured the minesphere, but with the advent of oil, we lost steam,” he said.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, he added, coal and other minerals were central to the economy, and mine rangers played an important role.

“Bringing them back is a good initiative. The minister is doing a lot. Without security, you can’t do anything.”

Concerns that some mineral deposits are depleted, especially tin, are overstated, Mr Davies said.

“Minerals shift underground, and without technology to trace them, you will assume it is finished.” Many artisanal miners are “barefoot experts” who can identify deposits but lack scientific tools.

“The problem artisanal miners face is a lack of technology,” he added.

The need for knowledge and innovation

Researchers have stated that most artisanal miners lack the necessary skills to extract minerals from the subsurface geology. Random pit digging to access mineralised zones is more of a competition amongst the artisanal miners to make quick cash.

Experts say the government must provide what artisanal miners lack—knowledge and modern prospecting tools. Nigeria is developing an artisanal mining policy to support operations with technical guidance and technology. Extension services within the ministry are being strengthened to help prevent environmental damage caused by random digging.

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“The government is doing its best, but minerals are complicated,” Mr Davies said.

What’s next for Senate-approved Bill

Following the Senate’s passage of the bill, it has now been transmitted to the House of Representatives through the House Leader, where it will undergo first, second, and third readings.

If the House makes any amendments, the bill will return to the Senate for harmonisation. Both chambers will then constitute a committee to reconcile the differences before passing a harmonised version.

However, if the House of Representatives passes the bill exactly as received from the Senate, the Clerk of the National Assembly will send a copy of the bill to the President for assent.

The president may assent to the bill, withhold assent (or veto), or return the bill to the National Assembly with recommended amendments.

In this instance, given the President’s and the Minister of Solid Minerals’ strong commitment to addressing illegal mining activities and getting more revenue from mining, the President will most likely sign the bill once it reaches his desk.

(This report was produced in partnership with EnergyNet).