Northern governors seek six-month mining ban to break bandit financing

Northern governors and traditional rulers have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to impose a six-month suspension on all mining activities across the North, saying the halt is necessary to disrupt criminal networks that have turned the sector into a hub for banditry and illicit financing.

The appeal was made at a joint meeting of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council held at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna, where leaders also agreed to establish a ₦1 billion monthly Northern Security Trust Fund to strengthen regional security operations. They further reaffirmed their full backing for the creation of state police, insisting the current centralised system can no longer cope with the scale of insecurity.

Reading the communiqué, Gombe State Governor and NSGF Chairman, Inuwa Yahaya, said recent findings showed that illegal mining had become a major revenue source for armed groups, enabling them to finance attacks, procure weapons and destabilise remote communities. He said the forum had requested the President to direct the Minister of Solid Minerals to undertake a comprehensive audit and revalidation of all mining licences within six months.

Yahaya expressed concern over the surge in killings, abductions and insurgent activity in Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Sokoto, Jigawa, Kano, Borno and Yobe States. He commiserated with victims’ families and praised the security agencies for recent rescue operations, including the recovery of kidnapped children.

He said the North was united in supporting “every decisive action” aimed at crushing criminal groups, adding that the new security fund would provide sustained financing for joint operations while cutting off the financial pipelines sustaining banditry.

Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, argued that the country’s population and vast ungoverned spaces had rendered the existing policing structure ineffective. He warned against politicising insecurity and accused certain opposition figures of exploiting fear for political gain. Traditional rulers, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, pledged unwavering support, urging governors to intensify efforts to stabilise the region.

The forum also stressed that long-term peace would require addressing underdevelopment, unemployment, illiteracy, poor resource management and the impact of climate change, issues that fuel recruitment into armed groups.