The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Mining Marshals have called for deeper collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as part of efforts to dismantle the criminal networks linking illegal mining with organised crime and terrorism.
The call was made by the Commander of the Mining Marshals, ACC John Onoja Attah, during a strategic engagement with a UNODC delegation led by Mr. Tullio Santini, Chief of the Africa Section of the Terrorism Prevention Branch.
Attah, who represented the NSCDC Commandant General, Prof. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, urged the UNODC to formally include the Mining Marshals in its CONNECT Initiative, a framework designed to strengthen cooperation among law-enforcement agencies in disrupting the operational and financial links between organised crime and terrorism.
Nigeria is among the countries invited to participate in the initiative, which is scheduled for launch in November 2026.
The Mining Marshals Commander stressed the importance of intelligence-led operations in confronting illegal mining, particularly given the emerging links between illicit exploitation of mineral resources and broader security threats.
He also highlighted previous UNODC-supported capacity-building programmes, which he said had strengthened collaboration between the Mining Marshals and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), especially in intelligence-led investigations.
The engagement provided an opportunity for the UNODC delegation to commend the Mining Marshals for their enforcement efforts and their expanding role in combating illegal mining across the country.
Attah said stronger cooperation with international partners would enhance the capacity of the Mining Marshals to identify, disrupt and prosecute networks operating behind illegal mining activities.
The meeting ended with a renewed commitment by both sides to strengthen intelligence sharing, inter-agency cooperation and coordinated action against illegal mining and its links to organised crime and terrorism.
The proposed inclusion of the Mining Marshals in the CONNECT Initiative is expected to further position the unit within broader national and international efforts to tackle the criminal and financial structures sustaining illegal mining in Nigeria.
