The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, has linked illegal mining in Nigeria to organised crime, terrorism and insecurity across West Africa.
The development was disclosed in a statement on Monday following a meeting between the Chief of the Africa Section of the Terrorism Prevention Branch, TPB, at UNODC, Tullio Santini, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Mining Marshals.
Santini said the NSCDC Mining Marshals’ enforcement unit plays a critical role in the fight against illegal mining in Nigeria.
The meeting focused on the UNODC Crime-Terrorism Nexus Initiative, led by Robert Haslinger, a law enforcement expert from the Swedish Police.
According to UNODC, the initiative is aimed at strengthening cooperation among governments and law enforcement agencies to dismantle the financial and operational connections between organised criminal networks and terrorist groups.
Speaking on behalf of the Commandant General of the NSCDC, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, Commander John Onoja Attah described UNODC as an important partner in efforts to combat illegal mining in Nigeria.
Attah noted that previous training programmes supported by the UNODC had significantly improved collaboration between the Mining Marshals and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU.
The parties are expected to continue strengthening cooperation and intelligence-sharing to tackle the criminal networks benefiting from illegal mining activities and their links to terrorism and insecurity in the region.
