Protecting Nigeria’s mining sites has become a national security matter, owing to the growing revenue in the sector.
Revenue from solid minerals has surged by more than 337 per cent in two years. The Federal Government is targeting a 25-fold expansion of the mining industry to N30 trillion, equivalent to approximately $21 billion, by 2030.
The sector recorded a real growth rate of 33.5 per cent in 2025, far outpacing Nigeria’s overall economic growth of 3.9 per cent during the same period.
According to official records, in 2023 the solid minerals sector earned the Federation about N16 billion. In 2024, the figure rose to N38 billion. In 2025, it crossed N70 billion.
Since 2023, reforms have attracted about $2.6 billion in fresh investment commitments, including a $1.3 billion, 1.5-million-tonne alumina refinery — the largest mining investment in Nigerian history.
A productive sector like this must therefore be guarded jealously and protected from criminal exploitation.
Hence, the efforts of security agencies, including the Mining Marshals of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), who have intensified the crackdown on illegal mining, are commendable.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, the Corps spokesperson, ACC Babawale Afolabi, said the Mining Marshals arrested more than 300 suspected illegal miners, prosecuted over 150 and secured several convictions.
The operations involved both Nigerian and foreign nationals engaged in activities threatening Nigeria’s mineral resources and economic security. The figures demonstrate the growing impact of the specialised unit in disrupting illegal mining networks.
The Marshals were commissioned to support government’s efforts to sanitise the mining sector, protect legitimate operators and prevent criminal exploitation of mineral resources.
Commendable as these efforts are, the government can achieve a higher degree of results by deploying modern technology.
Recall that in July the Federal Government promised to integrate digital identity into the mining sector to improve oversight, strengthen regulation, and tackle illegal mining and insecurity. We urge the government to match words with action and deploy modern techniques to secure this N30 trillion future.
