The Federal Government and host communities of solid minerals have been indicted in the continued illegal mining activities in Nigeria, a development that has raised serious security concerns in the North even as illegal mining has been identified as a major fuel for insecurity in the country
By Edu Abade
While Nigerians have been caught in the web of leaving the country to seek greener pastures outside the shores of the country (commonly referred to in common parlance as the Japa syndrome), Chinese firms have been named as a major culprits of illegal mining activities, which now largely fuel insecurity in the country.
Environmental activists, who spoke at a virtual meeting in Lagos, insisted that for Nigeria to overcome the current menace of illegal mining in the country, especially in the North, government at all levels, especially the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, headed by Dr. Dele Alake, must act decisively, responsibly and ensure accountability in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.
They argued that things came to a head recently when governors of the 19 Northern states read the riot act to foreign miners by declaring a cessation to mining activities in the North for six months, maintaining that illegal miners and their activities have been fuelling insecurity and monumental violence in the North.
In his welcome address, Executive Director of Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Philip Jakpor during the official launch of a report titled: Silent Conquest: The Chinese Infiltration of Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Sector on Thursday, December 11, 2025, said the report was influenced by RDI’s work in host communities across Nigeria where sold minerals are being mined recklessly.
“In the communities we have visited either in Zamfara or Nasarawa, Niger or even Cross River, we have observed a common pattern. Our natural resources are being extracted and carted away without recourse to the people and environment and the gaps in monitoring and regulation of the solid minerals sector makes us feel our government institutions are surrendering to foreign interests.
“This report reminds us that Nigeria’s solid minerals sector holds as much potential as oil and gas and when transparently harnessed and managed, could bring prosperity to the local communities and the nation at large.
“Unfortunately, like oil and gas, we have observed that the solid mineral sector is opaque and allows players, especially the foreign players, to extract without responsibility, leaving host communities empty handed.”
He said RDI’s findings further showed that the invasion of the country, which most Nigerians fear, has already happened and it is the Chinese that have invaded all the spaces where solid minerals like gold and transition minerals like lithium are found.
“From Nasarawa to Zamfara, Niger, Kwara, Ogun and Abia to Akwa Ibom, the story is the same. Not only has the sector been captured, the players are not ready to play by our rules. That is the bad news. We only get some little succour from the activities of some agencies of government like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that has been up and doing in checkmating unlicensed and illegal mining.
“The EFCC has been very proactive and has its hands full with arrests, prosecutions and arraignments of illegal Chinese miners and their local collaborators. The NSCDC has also been very active in that space. Disturbingly, we have seen some security agencies fighting each other to protect the illegal miners and the report also draws a nexus between illegal mining and terrorism currently ravaging the northern part of the country.
“The recent proposal by governors of northern Nigeria to ban mining for six months to checkmate terrorism financing should set us thinking. It should make us ask questions and the answers are in plain sight.
“What we have documented in the report is happening around us, it is happening in our communities. We read it, watch it and listen to it on the radio. But if we continue to overlook or gloss over it, it will become a monster like we have seen in Nigeria’s Niger Delta where oil has become a curse.”
Speaking, Executive Director of Environmental Defenders Network, (EDEN), Barrister Chima Williams, said the title of the report speaks volumes on the economic capture, which he argued was more dangerous than any other kind of capture, adding that when mentioning communities where the Chinese operate, Ebonyi State should be one of them.
He lamented that the trademark of the Chinese remains the same as they do not respect the laws of the land, kill with impunity and oppress Nigerians, while security agencies provide protection for the illegal miners.
“Not many of the miners are licensed, some have their names in papers, but they don’t exist anywhere in the country. Our take is that the campaign should be targeted at the government and officials of security agencies and we must take urgent steps and not allow the Chinese to continue to raid us and plunder our natural resources,” he said.
In his goodwill message, Director of Campaigns and Administration, Community Development Advocacy Foundation (CODAF), Dr. Maimoni Ubrei-Joe, commended RDI for its consistency, integrity and bravery in documenting issues many would rather keep buried beneath the soil they plunder.
The report connects deeply with the realities we have seen on the ground. Realities captured in our own investigation, “Mining Practices in Ezillo and Ikwo Communities of Ebonyi State: An Environmental Time Bomb.”
“In Ezillo and Ikwo, we witnessed first-hand how unregulated mining, much of it driven by foreign companies (Chinese and Indian) operating with impunity, has transformed once-thriving agricultural communities into scarred landscapes. Open-pit mining sites abandoned without remediation, water sources polluted with heavy metals, farmlands degraded, and community members exposed to health hazards they cannot even afford to understand, let alone treat.
“These communities mirror what this report describes on a national scale. The pattern is familiar, exemplified by weak regulation exploited by powerful foreign actors and local collaborators enabling large-scale illegal extraction in Nigeria.”
Also speaking, Co-Author of the report, Samuel Orovwuje, said the report is a call to attention, accountability and ultimately, a call to action, adding, “We gather here because the future of our nation’s mineral wealth-and the dignity of our communities who live on these lands-cannot be left to chance, silence, or external interests.
“Silent Conquest began as a simple inquiry: How did Nigeria, a country blessed with vast solid minerals, become a landscape of unchecked extraction, foreign infiltration and institutional vulnerability?
“The answers we found were deeper and more consequential than we anticipated. What emerged was not just a narrative of illegal mining, but a story of governance failure, quiet incursions, and the gradual erosion of state authority across mineral-bearing regions.
“This work is the product of months of research, careful documentation, and the difficult task of distilling complex incidents into a coherent national story. It draws on verifiable data, policy audits, investigative reports, field accounts, and official records. At every stage, we were guided by one principle: truth must serve the public interest.”
Speaking further, he said “However, this launch is not about pointing fingers, but about laying a foundation for reform. It is about insisting that Nigeria’s minerals do more than enrich shadow networks-that they contribute meaningfully to our economic diversification, industrial development, and collective prosperity. It is about strengthening the institutions that stand between national resources and global exploitation. And it is about ensuring that Nigeria’s sovereignty is neither negotiated nor quietly eroded under the weight of foreign interests and internal collusion.
A member of Vanguard Editorial Board, Babatunde Jimoh, who reviewed the report pointed out that the work remains both compelling and necessary, as it is an evidence-driven analysis that illuminates one of the most complex and least understood threats to Nigeria’s economic sovereignty: the rise of foreign-linked illegal mining networks.
“The report distinguishes itself through its careful integration of official data from Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) audits, enforcement records from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and an array of credible media and policy literature.
“For those who were curious about China’s particular interest in Nigeria’s spat with the United States following President Donald Trump’s threat to use lethal force on terrorists, the answer seems not to be far-fetched. The report captures the fact that Chinese nationals have been implicated in “rent payment” in terrorist strongholds in northern Nigeria to enable them access precious minerals.
“The authors demonstrate an impressive ability to connect granular field-level events to broader patterns of national security risk, environmental decline, and governance failures. This strengthens the report’s credibility and positions it as an essential reference for policymakers, regulators, civil society actors and researchers working on extractive governance.
In sum, the report is a well-researched and courageously presented contribution to ongoing national debates on resource protection. It is a work that challenges institutions to confront uncomfortable truths, strengthens public understanding of emerging threats, and provides practical pathways for reclaiming state control of Nigeria’s mineral wealth.
Other speakers at the virtual meeting included Convener, Women in Mining, Faith Nwadishi, Executive Director, Peace and Development Project, Abayomi Francis, Federation of Informal Workers of Nigeria (FIWON), Gbenga Akomolafe, Dr. Chioma Okonkwo of the University of Port Harcourt, Anthony Akpan of the Pan-African Vision for the Environment (PAVE) and Executive Director of CODAF, Richard Benin, who was represented by Ubrei-Joe.
