Precious Anga
Lagos — The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, has raised concerns over the links between illegal mining, organised crime, terrorism and insecurity in Nigeria and across West Africa, calling for stronger cooperation among security and law-enforcement agencies.
The warning followed a meeting between a UNODC delegation and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Mining Marshals as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s response to illicit mining and its wider security implications.
The delegation was led by Tullio Santini, Chief of the Africa Section of the Terrorism Prevention Branch, TPB, at UNODC.
Santini described the NSCDC Mining Marshals as a critical component of efforts to combat illegal mining and stressed the importance of strengthening collaboration between Nigerian authorities and international partners.
The discussions focused on the UNODC Crime-Terrorism Nexus Initiative, led by Robert Haslinger, a law-enforcement expert from the Swedish Police.
According to UNODC, the initiative is designed to improve cooperation among governments and law-enforcement agencies in identifying and dismantling the financial and operational connections between organised criminal networks and terrorist groups.
The agency said addressing these links was important to preventing criminal networks from exploiting legitimate economic sectors and natural resources to finance or facilitate illicit activities.
Representing the NSCDC Commandant General, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, the Commander of the Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps John Onoja Attah, welcomed the UNODC delegation and described the organisation as an important partner in strengthening the unit’s operational capabilities.
Attah said previous UNODC-supported training programmes had improved cooperation between the Mining Marshals and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU,.
He noted that stronger collaboration with financial intelligence and law-enforcement institutions would help authorities better identify the financial networks supporting illegal mining and related criminal activities.
The meeting formed part of a broader UNODC mission in Nigeria aimed at strengthening partnerships with government institutions and development partners, as well as reviewing ongoing field operations.
A key focus was the introduction of the UNODC CONNECT Initiative, which seeks to enhance practical cooperation among law-enforcement agencies in tackling the intersection between organised crime and terrorism.
The engagement comes as Nigeria continues efforts to formalise and develop its mining industry while confronting illegal extraction, environmental degradation and insecurity in some mineral-producing communities.
Greater cooperation among the security agencies, financial intelligence institutions, mining authorities and international partners could strengthen intelligence-sharing, financial investigations and enforcement operations.
The UNODC engagement therefore provides an opportunity to reinforce Nigeria’s efforts to protect its mineral resources, support legitimate mining activities and prevent criminal networks from exploiting the sector to sustain wider insecurity.
A coordinated approach combining effective enforcement, financial investigations, intelligence-sharing and stronger regulatory oversight will remain essential if Nigeria is to unlock the economic potential of its mineral resources while reducing the security risks associated with illegal mining.
