Gold, guns, and gangs: How illegal mining is fueling insecurity in Nigeria by Kazeem Akintunde
Nineteen Northern State Governors alongside their traditional rulers met in Kaduna last week Monday to rub minds and possibly work out practical solutions to the insecurity crisis that has not only engulfed the region, but threatening to consume it. At the end of their parley, the Governors came up with recommendations that they believed would provide solutions to what is gradually becoming an intractable crisis facing the region.
On top of their recommendations was the call on the Federal Government to place a six-month suspension on mining activities across the region. They blamed illegal mining activities for the worsening insecurity in many states up North. The northern leaders also announced plans to mobilize N228 billion to fight bandits terrorizing communities across the region. Under the arrangement, each state and its local government councils will contribute N1billion monthly to be deducted at source under an agreed framework. The fund, we were told, would provide sustainable financing for joint operations, intelligence-driven interventions, and coordinated security responses across the North.
In recent weeks, multiple school raids have rocked the region, leaving families traumatized and several communities deserted. No fewer than 500 students and residents were kidnapped by criminal gangs from schools and communities, forcing authorities to shut down schools in several states. In response to the crisis, President Bola Tinubu, declared a nationwide security emergency, directing immediate recruitment by the Army, Police Force, and intelligence agencies. He also urged the National Assembly to begin the process of legalizing state police to curb kidnapping and terrorist attacks. He also sacked the Nation’s Minister of Defence, and appointed General Chris Musa (retired) as a replacement.
It is a known fact that illegal mining activities have contributed significantly for the spike in terror-related activities in most northern states. In nearly all the 19 northern states, there are mineral resources that can fetch huge revenues if they are actively mined. Strategic minerals mined in the country’s North-west region include granite, gypsum, kaolin, laterite, limestone, phosphate, potash, silica sand, as well as gold. The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), estimated that the mining sector contributed N814.59 billion (US$527 million) in 15 years, with earnings at its peak in 2021. However, experts believe that the sector could be the new oil for the nation, if necessary attention is paid to it. However, the activities of illegal miners and some powerful countries across the world have ensured that the sector remains under-utilised.
Indeed, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, asserted in late 2024, that powerful individuals engaged in illegal mining were sponsoring banditry in the country. Recently, the Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, also alleged that retired military officers coordinated illegal mining activities nationwide, some for foreign collaborators.
For several years, gold mining was being done by wealthy and influential people in several communities in many states up north. Intense competition between the owners has led them to hiring bandits to guard their mine fields from their competitors – a situation that has made those bandits to become so powerful that they took over the mine fields, extract the gold, and use the proceeds to acquire more deadly weapons. In other words, they simply became warlords in their own rights.
The bandits now directly sell mined gold to gold merchants and traders across Africa. Some of these traders are business elites from other states in Nigeria who typically sell the gold in the Diffa region in Chad, or in Agadez (Niger), Tripoli (Libya), and Algiers (Algeria). Foreign nationals now also operate in the criminal supply chain for gold and other expensive mineral resources.
In fact, Chinese companies and nationals are fully involved in illegal mining activities in Nigeria as well as in other African countries. In South Sudan, United Arab Emirates companies with the support of their government are fully involved in illegal mining of Gold. Several powerful countries across the globe are all in a mad rush for Gold in Africa. In order to exercise control, they come in with guns, which they give to the locals in a bid to lay their hands on Africa’s wealth.
The reason for the rush is not farfetched. Gold has always been a precious commodity, and its value has increased in recent times. In October, prices surpassed $4,000 an ounce. Just last week, gold was sold for $4,200 an ounce, and the price is likely to go higher owing to the war between Russia and Ukraine as well as the cold war between USA on one hand, and China and Iran on the other.
What is happening in Nigeria is what several African countries are also going through. From Ghana to Mali, Ethiopia to South Africa, many African countries are facing exploitation from developed countries many of which are after the wealth of African countries. They pay peanuts to locals to guard and mine the field while they smile to the banks after paying ridiculously small ‘proceeds’ to those in government.
Edward Zwick, a film director, captured what many African countries are going through in his 2006 film titled ‘’Blood Diamond’’. In the film, set during the brutal Sierra Leone civil war in the late 1990s, it shows how Diamond is mined in the war zones and sold to finance armed conflicts and human rights abuses.
Zamfara State is one of Nigeria’s mineral-rich states with huge deposits of gold, copper, and lithium. But the state has, over the years, become one of the most insecure in the country due to illegal mining, which has become intricately linked with banditry, a form of organised crime involving armed groups engaged in cattle rustling, kidnapping, and violent attacks on communities.
As a result, these resources have become a double-edged sword – attracting illegal artisanal miners and criminal groups who exploit the minerals for profit with the extensive participation of thousands of ordinary people seeking livelihood. These mine labourers are made to work in often unsafe and exploitative conditions rife with intimidation by the armed groups.
In 2019, the Nigerian government imposed a ban on mining in the state as part of efforts to address the rising insecurity. Two years later, this was followed by the imposition of a no-fly zone over the state. Authorities believed that illegal mining fuelled the insecurity through illegally mined gold that is ferried out of the state using private aircrafts with proceeds used to smuggle in weapons.
However, the policy faced immediate challenges. Bandits maintained control over mining sites, making it nearly impossible for government officials to enforce the ban.
Data from the Nigeria Security Tracker, a Council of Foreign Relations project on security outcomes during the ban reveal its limited success. In the period from 2015 to 2019, before the ban was introduced, there were 2,247 reported deaths linked to insecurity in Zamfara state. In the four years following the ban, this figure rose to 6,349 deaths —a staggering 183% increase.
Many incidents go unreported due to the state’s remote areas. However, the available data shows that the ban failed to reduce violence and instead, fuelled the rising insecurity. With many of the bandits swimming in raw cash from their criminal activities, the demand for weapons in these conflict zones is high, leading to a massive inflow of illicit arms. These weapons are sourced from various places, including battlefield losses, diversions by corrupt officials, and local artisanal production. There are reports that there is an estimated 12 million illicit arms in West Africa which is a major driver of instability in the region.
It is doubtful if the Federal Government would consider the request of the 19 northern state governors to place a six-month ban on mining activities in the region. However, the Federal Government could easily control the influx of foreigners into the country, as it is an established fact that many of them are coming for the wealth of the country through illegal mining activities.
Needless to say, state governors across the region can no longer afford to be passive onlookers in what is happening in their respective states. The narrative that state governors are helpless in the mining sector because it is on the Exclusive Legislative List is a tired excuse that no longer holds water. While the Federal Government controls the issuance of licenses and royalties, the business of mining takes place on land held in trust by the state governors under the Land Use Act, for the people. If the Federal Government controls the license, who controls workforce development? Who controls value additions? Who controls infrastructure? These are all squarely within the state’s powers.
To ensure that the mining sector is protected from the vagaries of illegal miners, the Federal Government employs and deploys Mining Marshals, a specialised unit from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, to combat illegal miners, secure mining sites, protect licenced miners, and boost revenue from the solid minerals sectors. Launched in 2023/2024, the marshals have reclaimed sites, arrested offenders, and are being further equipped to expand operations nationwide, working with other security agencies to formalise the sector.
To ensure that we get it right in the sector, the government must adopt a comprehensive approach focused on security, regulation, and community engagement. Strengthening security at mining sites is crucial to preventing bandits from regaining control. This requires deploying specialised security forces, enhancing surveillance with modern technology such as drones and satellite imagery, and fostering collaboration with local communities.
Additionally, the government must establish a robust regulatory framework by conducting a census of mining sites, registering artisanal miners, and implementing transparent tracking of mineral extraction and sales to curb smuggling. Collaborations with private sector stakeholders and international partners can provide technical expertise, funding, and best practices to modernise Nigeria’s mining sector, which currently contributes less than 1% to the country’s official economic output.
Addressing economic vulnerabilities is equally important, as mining communities in Zamfara rely on the sector for their livelihoods. To ensure their economic stability while curbing illegal activities, the Federal Government should work with the state government to provide more employment opportunities in regulated mining operations; invest in alternative livelihoods; such as agriculture and small-scale industries to reduce dependency on mining; introduce community development programmes that address education, healthcare, and infrastructure needs, all of which bring government closer to the people and prevent recruitment by both criminal gangs and violent extremists.
Promoting environmental and health standards should be part of responsible mining, prioritising the health and well-being of miners and local communities. The government should enforce environmental regulations, ensuring that mining activities do not lead to health hazards like lead poisoning, soil degradation, water pollution, or other ecological harm. The Federal Government must demonstrate that it has the political will to develop the mining sector for the benefit of all Nigerians. For now, that sector is still majorly controlled by foreigners with some local collaborators and they won’t bat an eyelid in destabilising the country for their own selfish gains.
