KEY POINTS
- Nigeria’s Mining Marshals say they have arrested over 600 illegal miners, recovered 100-plus sites and are prosecuting more than 500 suspects since March 2024.
- Commander Attah Onoja credits the NSCDC’s “3Cs” collaboration policy and community tips for the unit’s successes.
- He urged stakeholders to treat collaborative security as a national paradigm, warning that compromised mining security fuels wider insecurity.
Nigeria’s Mining Marshals have arrested more than 600 suspected illegal miners, recovered over 100 illegal mining sites and begun prosecuting more than 500 suspects since the unit launched in March 2024, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps said.
Commander Attah Onoja shared the figures at the eighth NSCDC Lagos Public Relations Clinic, held with Halogen Group under the theme of collaborative mining security. Specifically, he said the government created the specialised unit to combat illegal mining and support economic diversification through solid minerals. Moreover, he said the Marshals had restored recovered sites to legitimate investors.
Collaboration as an operating model
Onoja cast illegal mining as a national security threat, not just an economic or environmental one. According to him, no single agency can tackle it alone, so the NSCDC’s “3Cs” policy of collaboration, cooperation and coordination now anchors the Marshals’ work. Furthermore, he named community, private-sector and inter-agency collaboration as the strategy’s three pillars.
Community tips have proved decisive. Specifically, Onoja said the greatest successes came from credible information supplied by host communities. Consequently, he argued that when communities see themselves as partners in legal mining, illegal operations lose their social base.
Technology, partners and challenges
The private sector adds reach and tools. According to Onoja, securing vast mining corridors demands technology, risk intelligence and expertise that government alone cannot provide, making firms like Halogen a force multiplier. Additionally, the Marshals work with the ministry of solid minerals, the military, police, the DSS and the judiciary.
However, big challenges remain. Specifically, Onoja cited Nigeria’s vast mining terrain and increasingly sophisticated illegal networks, and he urged stakeholders to treat collaborative security as a national paradigm rather than a tactic. Ultimately, he linked stronger enforcement to reduced insecurity, warning that compromising mining security for personal gain ultimately fuels crime and terrorism financing across the country.
