Gold miners in northwestern Nigeria are working under rising threat from armed bandits who demand payments to keep operating, and a deadly attack in Zamfara State this month has shown what refusing can cost.
Bandits struck a military base and a nearby gold mining site in Bindin, Zamfara, in early October, according to The ICIR and Daily Trust. Counts of the dead vary widely. The ICIR reported at least 23 miners and eight soldiers killed, plus one police officer, while Reuters, cited by TheDiggerNews, quoted a village head and victims’ relatives saying more than 100 miners died. Reuters put the number of soldiers killed at 25. Military and state officials have released no casualty figures, and none of the tolls has been independently verified.
Lt. Col. Olaniyi Osoba, a spokesman for the Army’s 8 Division, confirmed the attack and said operations were continuing. He said the military would not allow bandits a safe haven in Bindin. “We cannot release any details until we finish the operation,” he said.
Residents told The ICIR the assault appeared to be retaliation. Before soldiers arrived, they said, miners were forced to work for bandits at gunpoint for little or no pay. After the deployment, the gang kept demanding money by phone. Some miners paid at first, but more refused as security improved, partly out of fear of being accused of working with the bandits. “We were excited when the military came because the bandits were forced to stop coming,” one victim said.
The pattern is not new. In a January report, AFP quoted villagers and experts saying bandits tax miners and demand a share of the ore in return for access to pits, and that miners who refuse become targets. Intelligence sources told the agency that even licensed companies have to pay. HumAngle reported earlier that an armed group imposed a monthly 10% levy on gold at the Kwali site in Zamfara’s Bukuyum area and abducted several miners and dealers after they resisted.
Daily Trust reported that residents in Zamfara are also living with road ambushes, burned vehicles and a rise in attacks on communities in several districts. Police and army spokesmen could not be reached for comment on some of the incidents.
The federal government says it is pushing back. Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake said last month that 374 illegal mining sites had been identified and 108 cleared, with 743 suspects arrested and five convictions secured, Vanguard reported. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps oversees Mining Marshals deployed to shut sites and protect licensed areas.
Critics of blanket mining bans say they can push more people into illegal work. The Nigerian Miners Association has warned that bans could deepen poverty and insecurity, according to AFP.
Zamfara’s state government says it has supplied security agencies with vehicles, drones and motorcycles. Its secretary, Abubakar Nakwada, acknowledged that “the security challenge is not yet over.”
