Securing Nigeria’s solid minerals wealth

NIGERIA’S solid minerals are being plundered on an industrial scale by illegal miners, criminal syndicates, terrorists, politically connected interests and foreign operators, with the country losing billions of dollars in potential revenue, jobs and economic opportunities.

Gold, precious and semi-precious stones, lithium, titanium, lepidolite, tin and other minerals are being extracted and smuggled across Zamfara, Nasarawa, Kogi, Oyo and other states.

For a country already under fiscal strain, this is an economic and national security emergency that must be confronted with all seriousness.

The fresh arrests by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Ogun State highlight the scandal. On October 23, 2026, the commission arrested 14 Chinese nationals and one Nigerian at four allegedly illegal lithium-processing plants in Ogere.

It recovered bags of lithium rocks, 18 mobile phones, four laptops and a trailer truck. The suspects will be charged in court after investigations. How could four allegedly illegal mineral-processing facilities operate in Ogun State without effective regulatory intervention?

Sadly, such incidents are being normalised.

In April 2020, police arrested two Chinese nationals and two Nigerians over alleged illegal gold mining in Bukkuyum, Zamfara State, where mining activities had been suspended.

In September 2022, the EFCC arrested Chinese national Gang Deng in Kwara State with 25 tonnes of minerals suspected to be lepidolite. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in October 2022.

In July 2023, the EFCC arrested 13 Chinese nationals in Ilorin over alleged illegal mining and non-payment of royalties. Some reportedly lacked valid work permits and had entered Nigeria on visitor visas.

In August 2023, Akwa Ibom State shut an illegal mining company operated by Chinese nationals in Ibeno over its inability to produce the necessary authorisation for titanium ore mining.

On May 9, 2025, the EFCC arrested two Chinese nationals and six Nigerians in Ogere, Ogun State, recovering three trucks carrying ground lithium powder.

On May 16, 2026, Mining Marshals arrested 15 Chinese nationals and nine Nigerians in Kokona, Nasarawa State, over alleged unauthorised lithium mining. They were subsequently arraigned before the Federal High Court.

The Institute for Security Studies’ ENACT programme has documented the involvement of foreign criminal networks in Nigeria’s illegal mining economy, often working with local collaborators.

A May 2026 investigation by NEITI and the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice also identified foreign buyers, shell companies, corruption, commercial manipulation and cross-border smuggling as channels for illicit financial flows.

The question that demands an answer is how foreign nationals establish mining and processing operations without the necessary licences, work permits and regulatory approvals. Why should visitors be able to enter Nigeria and engage in commercial mineral exploitation with such apparent ease?

More importantly, who are the Nigerian sponsors, financiers, political patrons and local collaborators behind these operations?

The government must investigate the entire chain rather than just arrest foreign workers while their domestic facilitators escape scrutiny.

The geographical spread is equally alarming. Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna are major illegal gold-mining hotspots, with armed groups increasingly exploiting the trade.

Niger State has extensive artisanal gold activity, while Nasarawa, Kogi and parts of the Federal Capital Territory have attracted growing attention over lithium and gold.

Kwara has recorded illegal mineral extraction, while Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Ebonyi, Plateau, Taraba and Bauchi also have significant artisanal mining activities involving gold, lead, zinc, tin and other minerals.

The economic consequences are devastating. Estimates of annual losses to illegal mining and smuggling vary from $2 billion to $3 billion in NEITI-related assessments to the $9 billion figure cited by some government and legislative sources.

These are estimates, not audited losses. But even the lower figure represents an enormous drain on royalties, taxes, foreign exchange and national wealth.

A May 2026 Reuters report on the NEITI-ANEEJ investigation further exposed the extensive networks through which mineral proceeds escape public accountability.

The contrast between Nigeria’s historical mineral economy and its present performance is particularly shameful.

Before independence, coal, tin, columbite, lead and zinc were important export earners. Coal powered railways and electricity generation, while Nigeria was once the world’s largest producer of columbite.

According to the Federal Government’s National Policy on Solid Minerals, earnings from these resources helped finance roads, schools, hospitals and even the development of the petroleum industry. The subsequent dominance of oil displaced mining from national economic priorities.

The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development acknowledges that the sector contributed about 4-5 per cent of GDP in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, it contributes less than one per cent.

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NEITI and ANEEJ put its 2023 contribution at just 0.72 per cent of GDP, 0.28 per cent of government revenue and 0.75 per cent of exports. This is an extraordinary decline for a country endowed with at least 44 commercially viable minerals conservatively valued at $750 billion.

The human toll is even more disturbing. Illegal mining contaminates water, destroys farmland, exposes workers to toxic chemicals and leaves communities with dangerous abandoned pits.

The 2010 Zamfara lead-poisoning disaster remains an enduring indictment. The World Health Organisation confirmed severe lead poisoning in more than 100 children in the initial investigation and estimated that over 2,000 people in affected villages needed treatment.

Children suffered convulsions, neurological damage and deaths. This is the human cost of extracting mineral wealth without basic environmental safeguards.

More ominously, illegal gold mining has become intertwined with terrorism and banditry. A January 2026 Senate report identified illegal artisanal gold mining in Zamfara, Kaduna and Katsina as an important source of funding for armed criminal networks and arms procurement.

Good Governance Africa’s March 2026 investigation into Zamfara’s criminal gold economy similarly documented the interaction of armed groups, informal miners, political actors and transnational networks.

Nigeria is effectively allowing its mineral wealth to finance the insecurity that is destroying its communities.

The Federal Government’s response includes the establishment of the Mining Marshals in March 2024, restrictions on raw mineral exports, the promotion of local processing and the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative.

These are good interventions, but implementation remains shaky. In July 2025, the Mining Marshals disclosed that they had made more than 405 arrests, prosecuted 152 cases involving 252 suspects and identified 599 illegal mining sites, of which 64 had been cleared.

These figures demonstrate activity, but not necessarily lasting control. The subsequent arrests in Nasarawa and Ogun raise questions about the effectiveness and geographical reach of the operation.

In contrast, Burkina Faso has taken control of its gold mining sector. Through its state precious-minerals company, SONASP, it has expanded official purchasing and collection of artisanal and semi-mechanised gold.

By September 2025, the company had collected 29.56 tonnes of gold from these sources, while industrial production exceeded 40 tonnes. The mining sector contributed more than CFA585 billion ($1 billion) to government revenue by that date. Although the figures partly reflect previously unrecorded production entering official channels, the lesson is that formal purchasing systems, organised cooperatives and enforcement against smuggling can transform mineral revenue.

The government must establish properly funded mineral-buying centres across producing communities, offer competitive prices and guarantee prompt payment.

Artisanal miners should be organised into registered cooperatives with access to finance, modern equipment, technical training and safe mining methods.

Every consignment must be traceable from pit to processing plant and export terminal. Processing companies should purchase only from licensed suppliers and submit independently audited records of mineral inputs and outputs.

Nigeria must accelerate domestic processing and manufacturing. Lithium is central to the global battery and energy-storage industries. The government’s directive that new mining licences must incorporate local value addition makes sense.

Chinese firms have invested about $1 billion to date in lithium plants. But processing plants are not automatically national economic assets if their feedstock is illegally sourced and their transactions escape scrutiny.

Licensing must be accompanied by transparent ownership records, production declarations, royalty payments, environmental safeguards and technology transfer.

The EFCC, ICPC, Customs, immigration authorities, police, military and Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit must coordinate intelligence and enforcement.

Beneficial ownership of mining companies should be disclosed, while mineral warehouses, transport corridors, buyers, exporters and financial intermediaries must be monitored.

Politically connected Nigerians who sponsor illegal operations must face the same scrutiny as foreign operators.

States must become more responsible stakeholders. Although the Minerals and Mining Act vests ownership and control of mineral resources in the Federal Government, state governments have important responsibilities in land administration, community relations, infrastructure and environmental protection.

They should maintain accurate land records, monitor mining communities and prevent unauthorised occupation.

States should establish professionally managed mining companies and special-purpose vehicles, partnering with reputable foreign investors for exploration, extraction and processing under transparent agreements and valid federal licences.

Nigeria cannot continue preaching economic diversification while surrendering its mineral wealth to criminals, profiteers and foreign interests operating with domestic collaborators.

Oil has already demonstrated the dangers of failing to protect and properly account for natural resources. The country must not reproduce that failure with gold, lithium and other strategic minerals. Its mineral wealth belongs to its people. Government at every level must finally act as though it understands that.