Illegal Mining Fuels a Deadly Surge in Nigeria’s Insecurity

Illegal Mining Fuels a Deadly Surge in Nigeria’s Insecurity

By Abiola Adigun

What began as a local quarrel between farmers and herders in Zamfara State, North West Nigeria, has metastasized into one of the nation’s gravest security threats—an unholy alliance of illegal miners, heavily armed bandits, and foreign profiteers exploiting the country’s mineral deposits.
The early skirmishes were over farmland destruction. Retaliatory attacks followed, as herders allegedly invited kinsmen from across the Sahel to avenge killings. Soon, kidnapping for ransom became more profitable than cattle rearing, and criminal gangs emerged with new ambitions: control of gold and other precious stones.
“Illegal mining in Nigeria’s northwest has provided the financial lifeblood for armed groups, creating a vicious cycle of violence, extortion, and state fragility,” notes a Freedom House security brief on Zamfara.
According to security analysts, foreign miners—many of them Chinese nationals—entered the goldfields through Nigeria’s porous borders, striking deals with warlords who offered protection in exchange for weapons and cash. Helicopter drops of ammunition have even been reported in some remote communities.
Military bombardments in Zamfara scattered the armed groups, but instead of ending their reign, it spread the violence. The bandits carried their networks into Kaduna and Niger States, then further south into the North Central States of Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, Kwara, and Kogi.
The most recent flashpoint came in Babanla, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. Armed men stormed a police station, killing officers on duty, and attempted to loot shops and a hotel before being repelled by soldiers, police, and local vigilantes.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has since ordered a total security lockdown of the area. “We are working closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser to cleanse the area of criminals,” his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, said in a statement.
Freedom House warns that the resource-fuelled insecurity in Zamfara mirrors patterns seen in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and the Central African Republic, where armed actors use mineral wealth to sustain insurgencies.
In Nigeria, the 2019 government ban on mining in Zamfara was meant to starve bandits of funding. Instead, killings linked to the crisis jumped by 183% in the four years that followed, according to figures cited by the Good Governance Africa think tank.
In Benue State, Governor Hyacinth Alia has suspended mining in volatile areas, blaming illegal operators for worsening communal clashes. Kwara’s government has also vowed to work with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to root out illegal gold trading, after the anti-graft body described it as a “major enabler of violent crime.”
Reports by ENACT Africa and Africa Defense Forum detail how Chinese-backed mining outfits in Zamfara and Niger States have acted as covert suppliers of arms and cash to local warlords, enabling them to fend off security forces and dominate goldfields.
“Once criminal control of a mining site is established, it becomes a mini-fiefdom,” says Abuja-based security analyst Kabir Adamu. “The proceeds don’t just fund AK-47s; they pay for informants, bribes, and logistics networks that can outlast military operations.”
The scale of the crisis is staggering. In April this year, gunmen attacked a mining community in Gobirawa Chali, Zamfara, killing at least 20 people, including worshippers in a mosque. Similar raids have been reported in Niger, Kogi, and Plateau states, with kidnappings of traditional rulers, schoolchildren, and travellers becoming routine.
Compounding this crisis is the protracted insurgency in North East Nigeria, which continues to displace millions, destroy farmlands, and cripple agricultural output. Together with the spread of illegal mining-related violence, these conflicts have worsened food insecurity, driven rural–urban migration, and swelled the ranks of a large army of unemployed youth—fertile ground for criminal recruitment.
Analysts say unless Nigeria addresses the economic and political networks that make illegal mining possible, the bandits will remain entrenched.
Security experts recommend a three-pronged approach:
•Stronger regulation of mining, with licensing tied to security vetting.
•Disrupting illicit financing by tracing and freezing the assets of gold smuggling syndicates.
•Community empowerment, giving locals a stake in legal mining ventures to undercut bandits’ recruitment base.
But as the gold glitters, so too does the lure of fast money for those willing to trade in blood. Without decisive and sustained action, the resource curse now ravaging Zamfara may soon become a nationwide plague.