UN, NSCDC Partner to Tackle Illegal Mining Terror Funding

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has called for deeper collaboration with Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Mining Marshals as concerns mount over the growing links between illegal mining, organised crime and terrorism across Nigeria, West Africa and the Sahel.

The call was made during a strategic visit by a UNODC delegation to the Mining Marshals Corps, where the international body commended the specialised unit for its expanding role in tackling illegal mining and related criminal activities.

The Commander of the Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps, John Attah, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.

The UNODC delegation was led by the Chief of the Africa Section of the Terrorism Prevention Branch, Tullio Santini, who praised the Mining Marshals for their enforcement efforts.

“The rising number of arrests and prosecutions is evidence of Nigeria’s commitment to tackling the illicit trade,” he stated.

The visit was part of a broader UNODC mission to strengthen partnerships in Nigeria, engage development partners and review ongoing field operations.

A major focus of the meeting was the introduction of the UNODC Coordination through Operational Networks against the Crime-Terrorism Nexus initiative by a law enforcement expert from the Swedish Police, Robert Haslinger.

The CONNECT Initiative is designed to strengthen cooperation among governments and law enforcement agencies in disrupting the financial and operational links between organised criminal networks and terrorist groups.

Nigeria is among the countries invited to participate in the initiative, which is scheduled for launch in November 2026.

Responding, Attah, who represented the NSCDC Commandant-General, Prof Ahmed Audi, welcomed the UNODC delegation and described the organisation as a critical partner in strengthening the operational capabilities of the Mining Marshals.

He said, ‘The previous UNODC-supported training programmes had significantly improved collaboration between the Mining Marshals and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, enhancing the ability of both institutions to coordinate investigations and intelligence-led operations against illegal mining syndicates.

“The Mining Marshals occupy a unique position within Nigeria’s security architecture, reporting to the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, and the NSCDC. While their primary mandate remains the suppression of illegal mining activities, the officers—drawn from the NSCDC—also support broader national security operations when required.

“We also use this opportunity to advocate for the formal inclusion of the Mining Marshals in the CONNECT Initiative because disrupting the financial foundations of terrorist organizations requires greater attention to the illegal exploitation of mineral resources.”

Attah said the growing nexus between illegal mining and terrorism had become increasingly relevant to Nigeria’s national security calculations.

He added that the development partly explained the Federal Government’s ongoing reforms in the mining sector, with the Mining Marshals emerging as a key enforcement instrument in the fight against illegal exploitation of the country’s mineral resources.

The Marshals commander also called for expanded capacity-building programmes covering terrorism-related concepts, regional intelligence cooperation and peer-learning opportunities to enhance the unit’s ability to tackle evolving threats associated with illicit mining.

Illegal mining has increasingly attracted security concerns in Nigeria, with authorities warning that proceeds from illicit exploitation of mineral resources can fuel organised criminal activities and insecurity.

The UNODC officials commended the institutional structure of the Mining Marshals, describing it as a notable model within Nigeria’s law-enforcement ecosystem.

They noted that the unit had an unusually broad operational mandate, allowing it to handle illegal mining cases from intelligence gathering and prevention to arrest, investigation and prosecution.

The officials also highlighted the unit’s use of non-kinetic measures, including stakeholder engagement and community outreach, in addressing illegal mining.

The meeting ended with an exchange of publications, a commemorative photograph session and renewed commitments to strengthen collaboration against the growing convergence of resource-related crime and terrorism in Nigeria and the wider region.