UN, NSCDC MOVE TO TACKLE TERROR FUNDING, ILLEGAL MINING

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has called for stronger collaboration with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Mining Marshals to tackle the growing links between illegal mining, organised crime, and terrorism.

The call was made during a strategic visit by a UNODC delegation to the Mining Marshals Corps, where officials commended the unit’s efforts to combat illegal mining and related criminal activities.

The delegation was led by the Chief of the Africa Section of the Terrorism Prevention Branch, Tullio Santini.

A major focus of the meeting was the UNODC’s Coordination through Operational Networks against the Crime-Terrorism Nexus initiative, known as CONNECT. The initiative is designed to strengthen cooperation among governments and law enforcement agencies in disrupting financial and operational links between criminal networks and terrorist groups.

Nigeria is among the countries invited to participate in the initiative, which is scheduled for launch in November 2026.

The Commander of the Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps John Attah, said previous UNODC-supported training had improved cooperation between the Mining Marshals and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.

He called for the formal inclusion of the Mining Marshals in the CONNECT Initiative, stressing that disrupting the financial sources of terrorist organisations requires greater attention to the illegal exploitation of mineral resources.

Attah also called for additional training in terrorism-related issues, regional intelligence cooperation, and peer learning to strengthen the unit’s ability to respond to evolving threats.

The UNODC officials described the Mining Marshals as an important part of Nigeria’s law enforcement structure and commended their broad role in intelligence gathering, prevention, investigation, arrest, and prosecution of illegal mining cases.

The stakeholders agreed that stronger collaboration would be necessary to curb illegal mining and prevent proceeds from illicit mineral activities from supporting organised crime and terrorism.