Bloody gold: Unravelling link between mining and banditry

Niger and Zamfara are among the few states in the North-west and North-Central regions, endowed with huge deposits of minerals and other natural resources, and for years, several communities in the two states have been into local mining as their second source of livelihood, after farming. Weekend Trust investigations revealed that the two states are […]

Niger and Zamfara are among the few states in the North-west and North-Central regions, endowed with huge deposits of minerals and other natural resources, and for years, several communities in the two states have been into local mining as their second source of livelihood, after farming.

Weekend Trust investigations revealed that the two states are endowed with several minerals, including talc, gold, ball clays, silica, sand, marble, copper, iron, felspar, lead, kaolin, casserole, columbine, mica, quartzite, and limestone, among others.

Participation in the local mining in those communities has become the norm among the people, as every household is actively engaged in one aspect of mining or the other, depending on the capability or economic status of the family.

Each household engages in the activities, ranging from digging the pits, stone grinding, thrashing, or washing the sand in search of natural resources, particularly gold. Very few among the locals serve as agents of the major gold dealers.

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Residents conduct mining locally, taking their gold and other minerals to places like Lagos, Port-Harcourt and sometimes to countries like Ghana and Benin Republic, among others, for onward sale to major dealers.  On some occasions, the dealers visit the two states to buy gold and other minerals directly from the miners or through their agents.

 

The link between gold mining and banditry 

Until the emergence of banditry in the two states, local mining had been taking place in several communities in Niger and Zamfara states without much negative impact, apart from the major hazard of mining pits’ collapse.

Even after the incidents of banditry started in the two states, initially, there was no link between the mining activities and the violent act. While the criminals were kidnapping for ransom, engaging in cattle rustling and carrying out attacks on villages and towns, the residents on the other hand, concentrated on mining and farming as their sources of livelihood.

In Zamfara State, Weekend Trust gathered that the link between banditry and mining emanated from the miners, who developed the habit of killing one another in the course of their activities.

Alhaji Yusuf Bello, a local miner in Mutunji village, Maru Local Government, told Weekend Trust that, “Sometimes when a miner gets expensive gold, his colleagues connive and kill him in order to take away the gold. You know they carry Dane guns for protection because most of the mining sites are located in remote areas.

“However, as humans, sometimes they envy their colleagues whenever they get huge gold. So, at times, they kill their colleagues with a view to taking away the expensive mineral they have found.

“This is how killings among the miners started, and that was also the starting point of banditry in this part of the country. Both banditry and mining are about getting money,” he said.

Our correspondents learnt that after the bandits have rustled cattle and other animals and birds in the villages and towns, they will then compel the people to sell other properties to pay ransom for their loved ones to regain their freedom. Then, the bandits realised that whenever they demanded ransom, the relatives of their victims always asked to be given some days to enable them to sell their gold to pay.

This is said to have made the bandits change their tactics by using informants among the locals to know who had gold or any expensive mineral in the communities, so that he or his relatives would be abducted.

According to Idris Musa, a resident of Ruwan Dorawa village: “It is through this method that the bandits got to know that most of those that were paying ransom as and when due to free their loved ones, were from the gold mining families.

“That is how the bandits got attracted to mining activities. They got to understand that a lot of money was being made from it. The bandits, therefore, engaged in mining in many ways,” he further explained. 

He said currently, most of the mining sites in the state are either owned or controlled by bandits’ leaders, recalling that “about three months ago, one of the bandit kingpins, Kachalla Halilu, allegedly got gold worth N150 million in Kanye village, Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

“Kachalla focuses more on mining than banditry nowadays. He has hired dozens of local miners who are currently working for him at various mining sites across the state. Also, in Mada village, Gusau Local Government Area, more than half of the mining sites operating in Fegin-Mahe and Ajiya villages and parts of Zurmi Local Government Area are said to be owned and controlled by bandits’ leaders.

Muhammad Sanusi, a resident of Zurmi town, told Weekend Trust that, “We always wonder why the local mining continues in this part of the state despite the security challenges we are facing. You will never hear that bandits attacked mining sites in this area.

“But the bandits have launched several attacks on villagers, abducting and killing scores of people besides the large number of domestic animals and other belongings they cart away or destroy. This is to tell you that there is a strong link between the bandits and miners,” he said. 

Also, a resident of Tsafe town, Iliyasu Abubakar, alleged that the famous bandits’ leaders, Bello Turji and Ado Alleiro, were involved in mining activities. They are said to own mining sites in Maru, Bukkuyyum, Maradun and Tsafe local government areas, among other places.

Also, checks in Dansadau district indicated that there are no fewer than 18 villages where bandits are carrying out mining activities, with another 18 villages in Zurmi    Local Government, while in Birnin Magaji, the residents have entered an agreement with a bandit kingpin, Dan Karami, to control all the mining sites in Gotal and Shamshalle villages and allow them to live in peace.

Sometime in September last year, one of the bandits’ leaders in the state, Damina, placed a levy of N200 million on the people of Mutunji village in Maru, after he heard about a huge amount of gold scooped by one of the local miners in the village. And when the people failed to pay the levy, Damina abducted 150 members of the community, Weekend Trust gathered.

It was further gathered that virtually all the bandits’ leaders operating in Zamfara State are into illegal mining activities to get more money to buy sophisticated weapons, in order to sustain their operations.  

Having realised the strong link that exists between banditry and mining, the Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, in January this year, signed an Executive Order prohibiting traditional rulers from issuing consent letters for mining across the state.

A statement issued by the governor’s spokesman, Sulaiman Bala Idris, disclosed that the Executive Order was signed to stop one of the worst trends in the fight against banditry.

According to him, the order banned all consent letters for mining. “This includes consent letters to individuals, companies, or organisations for mining activities,” it stated.

In his remarks while signing the Order, Governor Lawal said the decision was taken due to the severe danger posed by the frequent issuance of consent letters for mining to individuals and groups.

He said: “The mining activities in Zamfara have been identified as a significant factor contributing to the worsening security situation of the state, especially the menace of banditry.

“As a responsible government, it is crucial that we take decisive action to resolve the issue of illegal mining operations that have been contributing to the crisis. That’s why I have signed the executive order. We are taking all necessary steps to rectify the problems related to the issuance of consent letters, which have been abused,” he said.

In Niger State, the narrative is similar, as victims of terrorism and banditry said, despite the unfortunate explosion that rocked the Galadima-Kogo community in Shiroro Local Government Area of the state on February 21, 2022, leading to the death of four officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), miners were seen going to the mining sites for work.

“It was surprising. We were running to IDP camps in Zumba, and miners, mostly foreigners, were going to the site. And even when we were at the IDP camps the following day, we saw them passing. We wondered why they were not attacked,” one of the residents said.

The February bomb explosion was one of the severest attacks launched on communities in the state. Residents said millions of naira worth of property and several deaths have been recorded through the activities of terrorists in most of the mineral-endowed LGAs of Shiroro, Munya, Rafi, Paikoro, Mariga, Mashegu, and Kontagora, among others. Despite these attacks, mining activities have been going on freely, especially by mining companies.

Sources said the only attack on a mining site was that of June 29, 2022, at a site belonging to some Chinese nationals at Ajata-Aboki, Gurmana ward of Shiroro LGA, during which four of the Chinese nationals were kidnapped, and no fewer than 43 lives reportedly lost, while other people were severely injured.

The criminals, numbering over 100, launched the bloody attack in broad daylight, that fateful day, leading to the death of seven mobile policemen guarding the site and 30 soldiers who moved from Erena for reinforcement.

Residents, who spoke with Weekend Trust, attributed the attack on the mining site to an alleged breach of agreement by the company’s managers.

One of the locals said: “Amidst this ravaging insecurity, one can hardly understand the reason behind the granting of operational licence to expatriates to carry out mining activities in highly risky and volatile areas.

“This negligence by the government has the potential to invite chaos and instability to the affected areas, and it will undoubtedly endanger the lives of residents in the area,” the local added.

Weekend Trust was told that the mining site had been in operation for over two years before it was attacked, but that within the two years, several attacks were launched in the communities around the site and the miners were not touched.

Subsequently, when the concerns over the connection between mining and insecurity in the state heightened, the immediate past government under Abubakar Sani Bello, in July 2022, announced the suspension of mining activities in Shiroro, Munya and Rafi LGAs.

The then Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, said in a statement that the decision became necessary as a result of escalating insecurity in the affected areas.

The state government warned that any operator caught engaging in mining activities in the areas mentioned would face the full wrath of the law.

“The state government has directed security agencies in the state to profile all mining sites in the affected local governments with a view to ascertaining their genuineness,” the statement read.

Similarly, the current Niger State governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has on several occasions, linked the festering insecurity in the state, especially in Shiroro and Munya LGAs to the activities of miners, who are believed to be engaged in terrorism financing through percentage payments to terrorists to sustain their stay.

On September 25, 2023, the current administration announced its decision to profile miners across the state due to complaints that they were paying bandits and terrorists to allow them access to mining sites.

Garba Sabo Yahaya, the state’s Commissioner for Mineral Resources, who was asked to supervise the profiling process, said the decision was due to a petition submitted at the ministry.

“We want to have the actual data of the miners in the state. The profiling will include their location, and when there is intervention from the government, we can easily locate them. Also, there is information from some quarters that miners are sponsoring bandits. People alleged that they pay bandits to allow them to do their mining business.

“So, profiling them will enable us to know who is who and his location and if need be, we will be able to trace him. Right now, there’s a letter I received alleging that miners are sponsoring bandits. So, we are going to liaise with the Ministry of Home Security to tackle this issue,” he said.

He said that while profiling was the first step, a task force would be constituted to flush out illegal miners across the state.

Also speaking, Muhammad Ismaila Danbaba Mambo, Chairman, Miners Association of Nigeria, Niger State chapter, said profiling of miners was a good step taken by the government, but disagreed with the claim that miners were paying terrorists to access their mining sites.

“Niger State is blessed with a lot of mineral resources, and we have been championing that for a long time as leaders in the sector. So this profiling is a step to protect the operations of even the miners and every other citizen in the state.

“This profiling will go a long way to even help the leaders of the association, in the sense that government and we, the leaders will be able to know who operates here and what documents he or she has to back his stay in the state as a miner.

“But I want to say without apologies that there is no miner, legally licenced and operating in Niger State that connives with or has any affiliation with bandits. I have thrown this challenge before, and I will continue to do it. No single miner has been arrested for collaborating with bandits or sponsoring bandits. No miner has been arrested with even an AK47 in Niger State. The governor can allege that banditry is linked to mining activities, but that needs to be proved; he has to go a long way,” he said.

Mambo, however, said: “But when you talk of social crimes, labourers engage in smoking and drug abuse, and I will never deny that one. But we have no relationship with bandits. Some people said bandits do pass miners without attacking them. Bandits see miners as poor people; people who have nothing to give them.  If not poverty, how can someone dig a hole to the extent that if it collapses, he dies there? So, when bandits see them, they feel they cannot get money from them.”

Despite all the measures taken by the previous and present administrations in the state, killings and kidnapping of farmers have continued, while mining activities have continued uninterrupted.

The recent collapse of a mining pit belonging to the African Minerals and Logistics Limited, a federal government-licenced miner, also confirms the presence of miners in the security-ravaged communities even as scores of residents have vacated their homes.

Residents told our correspondent that a day after the pit collapsed, bandits visited the area to confirm the claims.

Speaking with Weekend Trust, the President of Lakpma Youth Forum, Babangida Zaharudeen Kudodo, said miners have direct or indirect connections with terrorists and bandits that have attacked their communities for the past 10 years.

“Any sensible person or individual must believe that miners must have connections with bandits or terrorists. For example, in the last administration in Niger State, if you recall, Erena Road in Shiroro LGA was under construction when the criminals came several times to kidnap construction workers, but can you imagine that a mining site, which is also along that same road, none of its workers was kidnapped even once? So, what is happening if they don’t have connection with the terrorists and bandits?

“Why would they allow the miners to continue working, but they will not allow others to work? And everyone knows that these people who are mining in those places are making huge amounts of money,” he said. 

Also speaking, Jibrin Umar, a resident of the area said, “The thing is that miners are negotiating with terrorists or bandits to allow them to stay peacefully. So, bandits have no issues with the miners. Are you aware that these mining companies give a percentage in gold or cash to bandits?

“Whatever they mine in a day, bandits have a percentage out of it. If they (bandits) collect the raw gold as their percentage share, they sell it back to the company and collect cash, and some of them enter the towns too to sell the raw gold to buyers. That is what has been happening,” he alleged.

The Commissioner of Police, Zamfara State Command, Muhammad Shehu Dalijan, maintained that there was strong connectivity between banditry and mining not only in Zamfara, but anywhere in the country where the two activities are taking place.

Dalijan said: “In the case of Zamfara, my area of jurisdiction, most of the bandits are the illegal miners. They are the owners of majority of the mining sites spread across the state. They control them either directly or indirectly.

“The essence of denying people access to their farmlands is to prevent them from seeing what they (bandits) are doing at the mining sites. They don’t want people to know what they are doing or what they are getting through the mining; that is why they are preventing them from going to their respective farms.

“The bandits are also using the money they are getting through mining to buy weapons. Again, most times, the bandits abduct young people purposely to take them to mining sites to work for them. So, you see the connectivity. You see how strong the relationship between the banditry and mining is,” he said.

Other security experts who spoke with Weekend Trust, said what is now expected of Zamfara and Niger state governments is to further investigate the connection between mining and banditry by identifying the owners of mining sites and sponsors of banditry, with a view to addressing the menace.