The Federal Government’s crackdown on illegal mining has taken a national security turn, with foreign nationals suspected of funding terrorism now in the custody of security authorities.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, disclosed on Friday that foreigners arrested for illegal mining and linked to terror financing have been handed over to the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) for further investigation.
Alake made the revelation while fielding questions from Channels Television in Abuja, amid concerns raised by some United States lawmakers over alleged links between illegal Chinese mining operations and terrorism funding in Nigeria.
Though he did not specify the number of foreign nationals handed over to the NSA, the minister disclosed that over 327 persons, including foreign nationals, have been apprehended for illegal mining, with about 142 of them facing prosecution and about 3,000 mining licences revoked.
“We had to cleanse and sanitise the sector. To date, we’ve revoked over 3,000 licences,” he said adding that the move was intended to signal that “it is no longer business as usual” in the mining industry.
Alake also disclosed that about 2,500 mining marshals recruited from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)have been deployed nationwide to combat illegal mining.
Speaking further on sector reforms at the Solid Minerals Excellence Awards in Abuja, the minister said the government was promoting local value addition to boost industrialisation, job creation and revenue generation, noting that mining companies would now be required to process minerals locally instead of exporting raw materials.
According to him, the reforms had significantly improved revenue generation. He attributed the successes recorded in the sector including revenue growth from N6bn in 2023 to over N70bn as of December 2025 to the reforms of President Bola Tinubu.
He likened this reforms to a difficult but necessary process while maintaining that the administration’s policies would reverse years of systemic corruption and weak institutional oversight.
“Restructuring comes with pain, but after the gestational period, the results will begin to manifest,” he said.
The minister also praised President Tinubu for demonstrating what he described as the three critical attributes of leadership needed to transform Nigeria.
“You can only reset a country when you are lucky to have a leader that combines the three most critical attributes of leadership , vision, knowledge and courage.
“A lot of the economic reforms going on today in Nigeria are not policies nobody knew were necessary. Previous leaders identified them but lacked the courage to implement them because of political considerations,” he stated.
He added that the administration’s reforms were aimed at repositioning Nigeria economically and politically, stressing that the country’s vast human and natural resources had long been undermined by poor leadership and mismanagement.
Highlighting policy direction, Alake said the ministry had “crafted a seven-point agenda to plug leakages and block loopholes in the sector.”
He also urged operators to adopt the right mental attitude and develop a social conscience to drive the sector to greater heights.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu had earlier raised concerns over the continued plundering of mineral resources across West Africa, warning of its implications for regional stability.
Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, at the Annual General Meeting of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa, the president called for urgent international action.
“I believe the time has come for us to designate resource theft, mining, and stealing of minerals in the region as an international crime that threatens regional stability and galvanise the world against threats from stolen minerals from West Africa,” he said.
