‎"We Have Identified Elites Using Insecurity to Mine Minerals": Security Expert's Claim Puts Nigeria's Mining Sector Under the Spotlight

Dr. Kabir Adamu, a security risk and intelligence specialist, says his team has identified some Nigerian elites who exploit insecurity to mine minerals. The claim, reported in a Hausa-language interview, goes to the heart of a debate over who profits from violence in Nigeria's mineral-rich communities.

Who is speaking
Adamu leads Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, an Abuja-based firm that advises on security risk management across Nigeria and the Sahel. He holds a doctorate in strategic security risk management and formerly headed security and intelligence at the Office of the President of the Senate in the 9th Assembly.

He is a regular commentator on security, and has discussed the link between illegal mining and terrorism financing on VOA.

The claim in context
His assertion echoes what senior officials and researchers have said. Solid Minerals Minister Dele Alake has said powerful illegal miners are linked to bandits, terrorists and kidnappers, and that highly placed Nigerians are behind some mining-related banditry.

Researcher Maurice Ogbonnaya of the Institute for Security Studies has written that collaboration between politically connected Nigerians and Chinese firms in illegal gold mining drives rural banditry and violent local conflicts, and that sponsors fund banditry in mining communities to displace people and open space for illegal miners.

One estimate puts about 80 percent of mining in the Northwest as illegal, with activity surging between 2022 and 2024 in areas hit by banditry and terrorism.

President Tinubu has himself warned of a link between illegal mining and the financing of terrorist activities across Africa.

Gaps and denials
The claims are serious and mostly unproven in court. In February 2026, the Chinese embassy in Nigeria called such allegations "completely baseless" and said China has "zero tolerance" for illegal mining by its companies.

Enforcement so far has centred on lower-level arrests: Alake has said the Mining Marshals have arrested more than 350 illegal miners and prosecuted more than 150, but I have not seen reports of prosecutions of the powerful sponsors Adamu describes.

Industry voices also point to structural weaknesses, including porous borders, weak enforcement, and border officials' limited knowledge of minerals.

What the public needs to know
Adamu says he has identified these individuals. The key questions are:

Who are they, and what evidence exists?
Has the information been passed to the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Mining Marshals or the courts?

Why have prosecutions of financiers and facilitators lagged behind arrests of field operators?

What can be done to follow the money, from mining sites to export routes?

What should happen
Treat illegal mining as a national security issue, not only a regulatory one.

Investigate financiers, politicians and officials who facilitate it, including customs, immigration and cadastre staff.

Protect mining communities, whose displacement is part of the business model.

Publish prosecutions and seizures so the public can judge progress.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,
International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. (USIP)

[email protected]
+233555275880

References
Hausa interview with Dr. Kabir Adamu, headline as provided (I could not locate the full interview).

FPRI, contributor profile of Kabir Adamu. https://www.fpri.org/contributor/kabir-adamu/

VOA, "Nigerian President links illegal mining to terrorism." https://www.voaafrica.com/a/7584789.html

21st Century Chronicle, "Powerful illegal miners sponsor bandits – Alake." https://21stcenturychronicle.com/powerful-illegal-miners-sponsor-bandits-alake/

Farooq Kperogi, "How Chinese miners fuel Nigeria's insecurity," June 2026 (an opinion column citing ISS research). https://www.farooqkperogi.com/2026/06/how-chinese-miners-fuel-nigerias.html

NAN via Shipping Position, "Miners seek stronger border security to curb mineral smuggling." https://shippingposition.com.ng/miners-seek-stronger-border-security-to-curb-mineral-smuggling/