FG urges mine explosives firms to tighten logistics, curb leakages

The Federal Government has urged manufacturers of mine explosives to combat alleged leakages from their factories by tightening the security and logistics of their operations.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, made the call at an emergency meeting with the manufacturers in his office in Abuja on Friday, January 26, 2024.

Alake said there is a popular outcry against the role of the manufacturers in the easy access of unauthorised persons to explosives and indiscriminate storage across the country.

Noting that the government is reviewing the system for tracking the movement of explosives from the manufacturers to end-users, the minister urged them to look inward and fish out workers who may be responsible for illicit sales or manufacturing.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the three licenced manufacturers of explosives – Solar Nigachem Limited, Intrachem Limited, and Dynatrac Limited.

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Speaking on behalf of the companies, the Chief Executive Officer of Intrachem Limited and Chairman of the Association of Commercial Explosives Dealers, Biodun Abu, said the manufacturers have complied with the regulations of the government in terms of security surveillance of their operations by deploying Close Circuit Television (CCTV) in their factories and coding the explosives for easy tracking of the manufacturer and the company that ordered for them.

Abu said manufacturers and their clients have also obtained approvals for escorts to transport their goods to the end-users but are unable to verify incidences of possible leakages when they get to the clients.

Introducing the manufacturers earlier, the Director, Mines Inspectorate Department in the Ministry of Solid Minerals, Imam Ganiyu, said the explosives manufactured in Nigeria are slurry and need detonators to explode.

He said although Nigeria banned the use of dynamite for mining operations in 2007, neighbouring countries such as Cameroon and Mali still use the explosives, adding that such explosives may find their way illegally into Nigeria through the borders.

The Star