EFCC Links Illegal Mining To Insecurity, Organised Crime, Vows To Target Financiers

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has linked illegal mining and the theft of mineral resources to rising insecurity and organised crime in Nigeria, warning that criminal networks are exploiting weaknesses in the mining sector to fund other criminal activities. EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said efforts to tackle illegal mining must go beyond arresting miners at illegal sites to dismantling the networks of financiers, mineral buyers, compromised public officials and other beneficiaries behind the operations.

He spoke while delivering a keynote address at a public lecture and capacity-building workshop organised by the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies in collaboration with the Human and Environmental Development Agenda in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Tuesday. “There is a close connection between resource theft and insecurity. From an enforcement perspective, any economic activity that operates substantially outside regulation creates opportunities for criminal interests,” Olukoyede said.

He explained that illegal mining creates opportunities for extortion, smuggling, violence and territorial disputes, while proceeds from the activities could also finance other forms of criminality. “They can include extortion, smuggling, violence, competition over territory and the financing of other forms of criminality. This is why we must stop looking at illegal mining only as a licensing problem,” he added.

The EFCC chairman disclosed that the commission recorded 52 illegal mining cases between October 2023 and July 2026 and secured the forfeiture of 102 tonnes of solid minerals through its enforcement activities. According to him, investigations have exposed sophisticated networks involving local and international players, with different individuals responsible for financing operations, extracting minerals, arranging transportation, facilitating documentation and purchasing illegally obtained resources.

He said the commission’s strategy was to follow the financial transactions behind illegal mining and identify those benefiting from the proceeds. “Therefore, dealing with illegal mining involves breaking an impregnable chain of fraudulent actors: young men carrying shovels, their financiers, buyers of the minerals, compromised officials facilitating the operation, beneficiaries from the proceeds and other actors.

“A serious enforcement strategy must move from the pit to the purse,” Olukoyede emphasised. The EFCC boss clarified that the commission was not responsible for regulating the mining sector or issuing mining licences, explaining that its intervention focused on suspected corruption, fraud, money laundering, illicit financial flows and criminal proceeds.

He said financial investigations were critical because proceeds from illegally extracted minerals eventually entered the financial system through payments, bank accounts, business transactions and asset acquisitions. Olukoyede also warned that public officials who abused their positions to facilitate illegal mining, manipulate licences or launder proceeds from mineral theft would not be spared.

EFCC Seeks Stronger Inter-Agency Collaboration On inter-agency cooperation, the commission’s chairman called for stronger collaboration among mining regulators, financial intelligence institutions, law enforcement agencies, customs authorities and revenue agencies to improve intelligence sharing and coordinate investigations. He identified fragmented information among government institutions as one of the challenges confronting efforts to track criminal networks.

Olukoyede urged agencies to coordinate investigations across the entire mining value chain, from licence ownership and mineral extraction to buyers, financial transactions and ultimate beneficiaries. He also called on host communities, traditional institutions, civil society organisations and local leaders to report suspicious mining activities, while urging organised labour to demand lawful mining practices and decent working conditions.

The EFCC chairman reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to investigating financiers and facilitators, tracing illicit proceeds, recovering criminal assets and prosecuting suspects based on evidence. He maintained that Nigeria’s mineral resources should translate into economic prosperity for citizens rather than serve as a source of wealth for criminal networks.