TheCable

The ministry of mines and steel development has commenced a review of the 1964 explosive act in the bid to curb illegal usage of explosives in the country.

Speaking with NAN, Olayinka Oyebode, special assistant on media to Kayode Fayemi, minister of mines and steel development, said the ministry is working with the office of the national security adviser (NSA) to check the illegal diversion of explosives by some companies.

He said that the ministry had sent a draft copy of the report it has worked on to the ministry of justice for further review.

Oyebode said the draft would be taken to the federal executive council (FEC) for further review and endorsement.

Fayemi’s media aide added that it would also be sent to the national assembly for approval.

He explained that the penalties and fines in the act were too soft compared to the gravity of offences being committed by explosive users.

In August 2016, the NSA said seven suspects were arrested for allegedly supplying explosives and detonators to militants who wreaked havoc on pipelines and other petroleum facilities.

The explosives were said to be diverted from an explosives-distribution company in the Niger Delta.

An audit of the records of explosives magazines and quarries in that region revealed that 9,000 kilograms of high explosives and 16,420 pieces of detonators were diverted for illegal use.