How Illegal Mining Fuels Insecurity In The North 

A 2023 report from the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development stated that more than 80% of mining activities across Zamfara, Niger, and Kaduna states are illegal and that the Nigerian government loses about $2 billion in revenue annually to illegal mining.

An investigation carried out by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and published in March 2023, stated that illegal mining was at the core of armed banditry and terrorist activities, especially in northern Nigeria, with massive amounts of illegally mined gold said to have been smuggled into neighbouring countries like Niger and Mali.

These illegal activities have caused a series of violence in rural mining communities. For example, Amnesty International reported that “from January to July 2023, there were more than 2,000 abductions about mining site disputes in Zamfara State alone.

Some militants and bandits also impose levies or ‘taxes’ on miners and local communities, while other actors seize the mining sites for themselves in order to use the proceeds to buy arms and finance their operations.”

An anti-terrorism financing expert, Tayo Yusuf, argued that “there is a nexus between illegal mining and instability, noting that the proceeds from illegal mining operations have for some time now been connected to the financing of terrorist organizations”. He said groups such as Boko Haram and its offshoots, and bandit groups operating in the North, are likely to use such revenues from illicit mining to continue their operations. The money will go toward the purchase of sophisticated weaponry, recruitment of fighters, and the establishment of logistical networks through which counterterrorism efforts will be exceedingly hard to penetrate.

Illegal mining has therefore led to insecurity and conflicts over control of mining sites and their resources and these conflicts have been on the increase since 2014, spreading across Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Plateau and Zamfara states. Over 5 000 people have been killed in Zamfara State in the past five years. In February 2020, soldiers killed 13 bandits during clashes in Zamfara and Kebbi states. In April, four soldiers were killed by robbers in Zamfara State, while the police arrested two Chinese nationals for illegal mining.

Benue
Residents flee homes from banditry associated with illegal mining

Early in the year Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State suspended all mining activities in parts of the state and also inaugurated the state’s Mining Marshals to check the activities of illegal miners and acts of criminality in communities where mining activities were taking place.

He also directed the Mineral Resources and Environment Management Committee, MIREMCO, under the Chairmanship of Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Mr. Fidelis Mnyim to collate data of all miners in the state for proper documentation, verification and coordination in order to ensure orderliness and security for the communities.

Till date that embargo has not been lifted. But before the governor placed the embargo, several of the communities where mining activities were going on were bedeviled by insecurity as bandits sacked some of the communities like Ayilamo in Logo Local Government Area, LGA, and parts of Kwande where gold mining threw up huge security and environmental challenges. Speaking on the situation, the Senior Special Adviser, SSA, to the State Governor, on Solid Minerals, Stephen Uta who noted the security and environmental challenges in the affected communities said the embargo was still in place.

According to Uta, “the government has asked all those who engaged in mining to move out with their equipment because of the insecurity, particularly in Logo and Kwande LGAs of the state. We have these issues in Ayilamo, Logo and Kwande.

There is also the security challenge in the Idoma speaking parts of Benue South. So, everything is placed on hold for now. In Logo and Kwande residents have fled their homes as a result of banditry associated with illegal mining activities. But with the steps taken by the government we hope that early next year genuine miners and artisanal miners will be back on site.”

Speaking on the security challenges in Ayilamo where several precious stones are being mined, Joseph Taver, said several community members had fled their homes as a result of incessant attacks and clashes between mining gangs. According to him, “the people involved are not ordinary people because they bring in well-armed gangs to protect them and if you attempt to raise your voice they kill you.

As we speak, many families have fled their homes and moved to other communities. I have also moved to Anyin with my family because even after the government banned mining activities some still sneak into the communities with armed men. So it’s better for some of us to move out and protect our lives.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the son of a Kindred Head in Kwande LGA whose community has been affected disclosed that the community had suffered countless attacks by armed men since the discovery of gold in the area a few years ago.

“We have not known peace in this area since the discovery of gold in our area. You see different kinds of people from all over including neighbouring Cameroon coming here to mine and as they do that whoever tries to stop them is either killed or maimed. They also turned our communities to places where they deal in drugs thereby exposing our children to such terrible habits. Many of our children also dropped out of school because they lure them into working for them and get paid. So they abandon school and eventually get exposed to some of the unwholesome behaviours of those in the mines like the use of dangerous drugs. We hope that with the measures so far taken by the state government, there will be sanity in the business of mining and security will be beefed up in our communities.”

Borno
When Boko Haram started in 2009, its leader, the late Mohammed Yusuf, pinned it on an Islamic religious ideology. However, in the last 15 years that terrorism has devastated Borno state, spreading to other parts of Northern Nigeria, investigations have shown that the lingering terrorism and banditry have spread more due to economic interests, than religion. The abundant mineral resources, especially Oil and Gas and Californium/precious stones on the shores of lake Chad and some parts of the Sambisa Forest have been identified as the attraction for the lingering terrorism in Borno State. Analysts argued that there is an economic dimension to Boko Haram’s attacks on the Nigerian Oil Exploration Team in Lake Chad Basin as well as the continuous exploitation of gas by Chad and Cameroon.

Experts also claimed that the best crystal gemstones which are even more expensive than gold are part of the mineral deposits in Sambisa forest that has remained under the control of Boko Haram in the last one and a half decades. The Sambisa forest which is the main hideout of terrorists covers an area stretching approximately 60,000 square kilometers across the north east from Borno, Yobe, Gombe and Bauchi states along the Darazo corridor.

In 2022, the Borno State House of Assembly passed a resolution calling on the Executive to immediately liaise with security agencies, Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and other stakeholders to ban illegal mining of minerals, citing insecurity and environmental pollution, in the affected areas.

Reacting to the development in an interview with our Correspondent in Maiduguri, the Executive Director, Network for Civil Society Organizations, NCSOs, Comrade Bulama Abiso attributed the lingering Boko Haram crisis to foreign interests aimed at siphoning the numerous mineral deposits in Borno state.

He said, “there are a lot of issues associated with the over decade Boko Haram crisis in the North East.

Apart from the Californium deposits as alleged, there are other mineral resources such as the Petroleum which was discovered in large quantities around the shores of Lake Chad Basin.

And some foreign interests who don’t want this potential to be harnessed have assisted directly or indirectly towards escalating the crisis. Those who have interests in one way or the other used our jobless youths, or even religion to cause mayhem in the community. We know very well that Borno has a lot of natural resources around the Lake Chad Basin and some parts of Sambisa among other communities, and there are a lot of vested interests in those areas, which I believe was the reason behind the endless Boko Haram crisis,” Abiso stated.

Nasarawa
Gov raises alarm over Boko Haram moving to 5 LGs with high mineral deposits

Nasarawa State is considered the home of mineral deposits of the country as it has the highest mineral deposits in the country. There is Gold in Wamba; Baryte at Azara, Wuse and Aloshi; Coals (of the highest rank in Nigeria) at Obi, Jangerigeri, Jangwa and Shankodi; Large Marble deposits at Ugya and Gadabuke/Toto; Tin, Columbite and Tantalite at Afu, Udege Beki, and Wamba; Gemstones in Keffi, Garaku, Andaha, and lately Lithium. The state is not only rich in solid minerals but also crude oil. There is an ongoing drilling of crude oil in Obi local government of the state. The crude oil deposits in Obi and Keana Local governments are said to be in commercial quantities.

The rush for mining activities in the state has attracted both legitimate and criminal elements into the state. In 2022 Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa raised the alarm that Boko Haram had occupied five local governments in the state that have huge deposits of minerals. Earlier in 2021 the Special Army formation in Doma Local Government Area discovered a terrorist sect, Darussalam, in Toto local government. Over 3,000 of their wives and children were arrested and deported to where the group kidnapped and forced them into marrying members of the sect. According to a report by the Army, some of their husbands were arrested, others killed while many fled during joint-military operations in the area. Recent findings revealed that Toto local government, where there is ongoing massive marble mining and parts of Karu local government are notorious for kidnapping in the state.

Many farming communities in Loko and Doma Local governments have been over-run by bandits. Some farmers in Agbachi, in Doma Local Government Area raised the alarm early this year that criminals had invaded their villages, stopping them from carrying out their farming activities. They also claimed that the criminal elements subjected their girls to various forms of abuse, including rape.

Lafia, the state capital which used to be one of the most peaceful state capitals in the country has lost its peace. For the people of Nasarawa, the massive mining activities which could have brought prosperity to them has made them insecure and has brought misery and pain.

Kaduna
In Kaduna State, the story is the same. It is a tale of woes for communities with large deposits of mineral resources. A native of Manini, who craved anonymity said, “before now, a very important personality in collaboration with foreigners, was said to be involved in lithium extraction around the Manini area. Some security personnel were said to have paid the supreme sacrifice when they had an encounter with terrorists. There is illegal mining going on at Kuyello, Kwasa-kwasa and Gobirawa axis, Ansaru terrorists were involved, but they’ve moved further down, into the forests. Our area is like Zamfara, we are blessed with minerals such as gold, lithium and so many others. But mining activity was not regulated.

Zamfara
There is illegal gold mining in Zamfara and this has led to various security, health and environmental hazards. The epicenters of the illegal mining are Bukkuyum, Maru and Anka Local Government Areas as well as in Anka, Birni Magaji, Maru, Kaura – Namoda, and Tsafe. The audacity of the operators of illegal mining has remained unchallenged, despite several announcements by the government banning such activities. Illegal mining activities go on in many parts of the state both day and night.

Findings by Vanguard revealed that some years back foreign nationals from Russia and China invaded the state and recruited many locals to engage in illegal mining.

A resident, Dan’Auta Bagega, told Vanguard that “strangers have invaded our villages; they are all into mining. They are in our villages and the surrounding neighbourhood. Some have even bought houses for their workers; we feel unsafe with their daily influx.”

A resident of Dangulbi where gold mining is booming who gave his name as Imrana Dangulbi, said “illegal miners sometimes clash with their ‘Chinese’ bosses who acquired land for their illegal activities.

There was a time when two Chinese were kidnapped for two weeks by miners because they were paid for their services. The Chinese were later released after ransom was paid”.

Credit: Vanguard News

WARNING: If You Are Not 18+, Don’t Click The Link Below 👇🫣 

https://headacheaim.com/kx6iepv2qm?key=6c14bd1d68e1eba721851f19778f5efe

https://zireemilsoude.net/4/5193489

Please don’t forget to “Allow the notification” so you will be the first to get our gist when we publish it.
Drop your comment in the section below, and don’t forget to share the post.

Never Miss A Single News Or Gists, Kindly Join Us On WhatsApp Channel:
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vad8g81Eawdsio6INn3B

Telegram Channel:
https://t.me/gistsmateNG