The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has vowed to intensify its crackdown on illegal mining in Nigeria, shifting its focus towards financiers, mineral buyers, compromised public officials and other individuals benefiting from the illicit trade.
EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said illegal mining had become increasingly connected to insecurity and organised crime, with criminal networks exploiting weaknesses in the mining sector to fund other illegal activities.
He made this known while delivering a keynote address at a public lecture and capacity-building workshop organised by the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS) in collaboration with the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Tuesday.
According to Olukoyede, tackling illegal mining requires more than arresting individuals found extracting minerals without authorisation. He said enforcement agencies must dismantle the financial and operational networks sustaining the activities.
EFCC Links Illegal Mining to Insecurity
The EFCC chairman explained that illegal mining and the theft of mineral resources create opportunities for extortion, smuggling, violence and territorial disputes.
He warned that proceeds from illegal mining could also be channelled into financing other criminal activities, creating wider security challenges for affected communities and the country.
“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 added that criminal interests could take control of economic activities in mining communities, with consequences extending beyond revenue losses to public safety and national security.
Commission Records 52 Illegal Mining Cases
Olukoyede disclosed that the commission recorded 52 illegal mining cases between October 2023 and July 2026.
He also revealed that the EFCC secured the forfeiture of 102 tonnes of solid minerals through its enforcement activities during the period.
According to him, investigations have uncovered sophisticated networks involving local and international players who perform different roles in the illegal mining business.
These include financiers, mineral buyers, transporters, individuals responsible for documentation, compromised public officials and beneficiaries of proceeds from illegally extracted resources.
The EFCC chairman said the commission would prioritise financial investigations to identify those funding the operations and benefiting from the proceeds.
‘Move From the Pit to the Purse’
Olukoyede stressed that arresting miners at excavation sites alone would not dismantle the criminal networks behind illegal mining.
He called for an enforcement strategy that targets the financial interests sustaining the illegal trade.
“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,” he emphasised.
He explained that proceeds from illegal mining eventually enter the financial system through bank accounts, business transactions, payments and asset acquisitions, making financial investigations essential to identifying the beneficiaries.
Olukoyede clarified that the EFCC was not responsible for regulating the mining sector or issuing mining licences.
He said the commission’s intervention focused on suspected corruption, fraud, money laundering, illicit financial flows and the recovery of proceeds from criminal activities.
The chairman further warned that public officials who abused their positions to facilitate illegal mining, manipulate licences or launder proceeds from mineral theft would face investigation and prosecution based on available evidence.
EFCC Seeks Stronger Inter-Agency Collaboration
The EFCC boss called for stronger cooperation among mining regulators, financial intelligence institutions, law enforcement agencies, customs authorities and revenue agencies.
He identified fragmented information-sharing among government institutions as one of the challenges allowing criminal networks to operate across the mining value chain.
He urged relevant agencies to coordinate investigations covering licence ownership, mineral extraction, transportation, buyers, financial transactions and the ultimate beneficiaries.
Olukoyede also called on host communities, traditional institutions, civil society organisations, local leaders and organised labour to report suspicious mining activities and demand accountability in the sector.
He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to investigating financiers and facilitators, tracing illicit proceeds, recovering criminal assets and prosecuting suspects in accordance with the law.
He maintained that Nigeria’s mineral resources should contribute to national economic development and improve citizens’ welfare rather than enrich criminal networks.
