EFCC Targets Financiers, Buyers and Compromised Officials in Fresh Crackdown on Illegal Mining

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced plans to intensify its crackdown on illegal mining in Nigeria, targeting financiers, mineral buyers, compromised public officials and other individuals benefiting from the theft of the country’s mineral resources.

EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said illegal mining was sustained by sophisticated criminal networks involving both local and international players, warning that arresting miners at excavation sites alone would not solve the problem.

Olukoyede spoke on Tuesday while delivering a keynote address at a public lecture and capacity-building workshop organised by the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies and the Human and Environmental Development Agenda in Ilorin, Kwara State.

He explained that illegal mining operations involved several layers of participants, including financiers, transport facilitators, buyers of illegally extracted minerals, officials who provide protection and individuals who benefit from the proceeds.

“Therefore, dealing with illegal mining involves breaking an impregnable chain of fraudulent actors: young men carrying shovels, their financiers, buyers of the minerals, compromised officials facilitating the operation, beneficiaries from the proceeds and other actors,” the EFCC chairman stated.

He added that the commission’s enforcement strategy would focus on tracing proceeds from illegal mining and identifying those who finance, facilitate and benefit from the activities.

Providing details of the agency’s enforcement record, Olukoyede disclosed that the EFCC recorded 52 illegal mining cases between October 2023 and July 2026 and secured the forfeiture of 102 tonnes of solid minerals.

The EFCC chairman clarified that the commission was not the regulatory authority for the mining sector and had no responsibility for issuing mining licences.

He explained that the agency’s intervention focused on suspected corruption, fraud, money laundering, illicit financial flows and proceeds of criminal activities linked to the sector.

According to him, financial investigations are essential because illegally extracted minerals eventually generate proceeds that move through bank accounts, business transactions, payments and asset acquisitions.

Olukoyede also linked illegal mining to Nigeria’s security challenges, warning that unregulated mineral extraction and trading created opportunities for criminal networks to engage in extortion, smuggling, violence and territorial disputes.

“Once criminal interests begin to control economic activity in a community, the consequences can extend far beyond lost royalties,” he cautioned.

He warned that public officials who abused their positions to facilitate illegal mining, manipulate licences or launder proceeds from mineral theft would also face investigation and possible prosecution.

The EFCC chairman called for stronger cooperation among mining regulators, financial intelligence institutions, law enforcement agencies, customs authorities and revenue agencies to improve intelligence sharing and ensure coordinated investigations.

He also urged traditional institutions, community associations, youth groups, civil society organisations and local leaders to establish channels for reporting suspicious mining activities.

Olukoyede reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to investigating financiers and facilitators, tracing illicit proceeds, recovering criminal assets and prosecuting suspects based on available evidence.

He stressed that Nigeria’s mineral wealth should benefit its citizens rather than criminal networks exploiting the country’s natural resources.