EFCC vows crackdown on sponsors of illegal mining

EFCC chair, Olukoyede. Photo: File

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has vowed to intensify its crackdown on illegal mining by targeting financiers, mineral buyers, compromised public officials and other members of criminal networks benefiting from the theft of Nigeria’s mineral resources.

The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said illegal mining was sustained by sophisticated syndicates involving local and international players, warning that arresting miners at excavation sites alone would not address the problem.

Olukoyede spoke on Tuesday while delivering a keynote address at a public lecture and capacity-building workshop organised by the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies and the Human and Environmental Development Agenda in Ilorin, Kwara State.

He explained that the networks behind illegal mining comprised individuals who provided funding, facilitated transportation and documentation, purchased illegally extracted minerals and protected the operations.

“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,” the EFCC chairman stated.

He added that the commission’s enforcement strategy would focus on tracing the proceeds of illegal mining and identifying those who financed and benefited from the operations.

The anti-graft agency’s 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.

He clarified that the EFCC was not the regulatory authority for the mining sector and had no responsibility for issuing mining licences, explaining that its intervention covered suspected corruption, fraud, money laundering, illicit financial flows and proceeds of criminal activities.

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According to him, financial investigations remained crucial because illegally extracted minerals eventually generated proceeds that moved through bank accounts, businesses, payments and asset acquisitions.

Olukoyede also linked illegal mining to Nigeria’s security challenges, warning that unregulated mineral extraction and trading created opportunities for criminal networks to engage in extortion, smuggling, violence and territorial disputes.

“Once criminal interests begin to control economic activity in a community, the consequences can extend far beyond lost royalties,” he cautioned.

He warned that public officials who compromised their positions to facilitate illegal mining, manipulate licences or launder proceeds from mineral theft would not be spared.

The EFCC chairman further called for stronger cooperation among mining regulators, financial intelligence institutions, law enforcement agencies, customs authorities and revenue agencies to improve intelligence sharing and coordinated investigations.

He also urged traditional institutions, community associations, youth groups, civil society organisations and local leaders to establish channels for reporting suspicious mining activities.

Olukoyede reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to investigating financiers and facilitators, tracing illicit proceeds, recovering criminal assets and prosecuting suspects based on evidence.

He stressed that Nigeria’s mineral wealth must benefit its citizens rather than criminal networks.