Former governor of Edo State and current Senate committee chairman on Interior, Adam Oshiomhole, recently stirred the hornet’s nest when he alleged, during a budget presentation of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, that some retired military generals were involved in the illegal mining and smuggling of Nigeria’s solid minerals resources.

In a video recording that went viral, Senator Oshiomhole declared, among others, that “very senior military generals are behind illegal mining in the country, backing many Chinese to plunder the mining resources. They have weaponized the processes. They fly in, in choppers, carry away the resources worth billions of US dollars, and do so with impunity, without anyone challenging them.”

Oshiomhole went on to disclose that, as national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), he had reported the matter to former President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general himself, but that Buhari failed to act.

Oshiomhole outburst will not be the first time a senior government official has blamed the high and mighty for this crime. In December 2023, the present minister of solid minerals development, Dr. Alake, at a budget defence session at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, said: “Nigerians are those powerful people behind them (illegal miners). The insecurity in the mining areas is sponsored by illegal miners and these are powerful individuals in the society who are Nigerians.”

Like Oshiomhole, former minister of state for mines and steel development, Uche Ogah, revealed that private aircraft was being used to smuggle $9 billion worth of illegally mined gold out of the country yearly. It is instructive to note that gold is just one mineral among many being smuggled from Nigeria by highly placed criminals, whether serving or ex-military or members of the political class.

To all intents, Nigeria’s extractive industry is practically a crime scene. The country is losing billions of dollars annually to the theft of crude oil every year. The exact value is unknown due to the country’s lack of reliable data and the opacity that surrounds the system. Various estimates put stolen oil from Nigeria at between 250, 000 and 700,000 barrels per day. In 2022 federal lawmakers estimated that about $40 million worth of crude was being stolen in the country daily, translating to about $14.6 billion in a year. Sadly, the same pillaging of the country’s natural resources is happening in the solid minerals sector, and it has been going on for decades.

Nigeria is home to about 44 solid minerals in commercial quantity. In fact, all the 36 states of the federation and Abuja, the capital city, are blessed with at least one or more of such minerals. Some of the notable ones include gold, diamond, lead, zinc, iron ore, coal, and uranium. Nigeria is also home to some of the minerals needed for energy transition, like lithium, cobalt, copper and manganese, among others. Available geo-scientific data estimates Nigeria’s solid minerals wealth at about $750 billion. Industry watchers believe illegal mining accounts for as much as 80 percent of the activities in the mining sector. The problem had not attracted the attention it is getting now due to the country’s fixation with crude oil over the years.

While not much was done by previous administration to combat this problem, the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken some steps. In March 2024, the federal government launched the mining marshals, specially trained personnel made up of personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to protect the mining environment and battle illegal miners in the country, with about 100 personnel deployed per state. Since they began operations, the marshals have apprehended over 200 suspects, with about 130 facing prosecution, several of them Chinese nationals. However, the number and calibre of suspects pale in insignificance when compared to the class of people Oshiomhole referred to and magnitude of the theft going on.

As a newspaper, we urge the government to act decisively this time round. It must identify the culprits and deal with them according to the law no matter how highly placed they may be. It can start by deploying the same force it was deploying in combating illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region, as the senator had suggested.

Illegal mining not only robs Nigeria of huge funds needed for development, but exacerbate the insecurity plaguing the country. The Tinubu administration must treat illegal extraction and smuggling of Nigeria’s mineral wealth as a matter of national security. As presently constituted, the mining marshals can only catch some of the errand boys. In responding to this menace, the national and subnational governments must be on the same page to achieve success. Using cutting-edge surveillance technology, military and security personnel committed to the cause will be key.

In the meantime, we urge the security agencies to beam their searchlight on the activities of foreigners in Nigeria, especially Chinese nationals. Many of them masquerade as investors when in reality they are shady characters who collude with unpatriotic Nigerians to commit economic crimes. (LEADERSHIP Editorial)