Illegal Miners, Financiers Face Tougher EFCC Crackdown as Olukoyede Receives MINILS Fellowship Award
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has vowed to intensify the fight against illegal mining in Nigeria, warning that financiers, mineral buyers, compromised public officials and other collaborators behind the illicit trade will face prosecution.
Olukoyede gave the warning on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, in Ilorin, Kwara State, while delivering a keynote address at a joint conference on Illegal Mining, Corruption and Climate Implications organised by the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS) in partnership with the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA).
The EFCC Chairman, who was also conferred with a Fellowship Award by the Institute, said the Commission would expand its enforcement strategy beyond arresting illegal miners to identifying and dismantling the financial networks sustaining the criminal activity.
Speaking on the theme, “Uprooting the Roots of Resource Theft: A Zero-Tolerance Approach to Mining Corruption and Increasing Insecurity in Nigeria,” Olukoyede lamented that Nigeria had continued to lose the economic benefits of its abundant mineral resources due to corruption, illegal exploitation and insecurity.
He listed gold, lithium, tin, lead and zinc among the country’s valuable mineral resources, stressing that their potential could only be realised through proper management and protection against criminal exploitation.
According to him, illegal mining involves organised networks of local and international financiers, mineral buyers, transporters, compromised government officials and beneficiaries of illicit proceeds.
“A serious enforcement strategy must move from the pit to the purse,” Olukoyede declared, assuring that the EFCC would continue to trace illicit funds, investigate financiers and facilitators, and prosecute those found culpable based on available evidence.
Providing details of the Commission’s achievements, he disclosed that between October 2023 and July 2026, the EFCC recorded 52 illegal-mining cases under its specialised enforcement portfolio, leading to investigations, prosecutions and convictions.
He added that the Commission had also secured the forfeiture of 102 tonnes of solid minerals.
Olukoyede warned that illegal mining was not just an economic crime but also contributed to extortion, smuggling, violence and other criminal activities that threaten security in mining communities.
He called for stronger collaboration among mining regulators, security agencies, financial intelligence institutions, customs authorities, revenue agencies and host communities to strengthen intelligence sharing and coordinated operations against illegal mining networks.
He also urged organised labour, traditional institutions, civil society organisations and the media to support efforts towards transparency, accountability and decent working conditions in the extractive industry.
Earlier, the Director-General of MINILS and Chief Host, Comrade Issa Aremu, commended the EFCC under Olukoyede’s leadership for its efforts in combating illegal activities and promoting accountability.
Similarly, the Chairman of HEDA Resource Centre, Olanrewaju Suraju, described illegal mining, corruption and environmental degradation as interconnected challenges requiring collective action.
Suraju stressed the need for organised labour to play a central role in Nigeria’s transition to clean energy, ensuring that workers are not disadvantaged in the process.
He explained that the three-day conference was designed to equip labour leaders with advocacy, skills development and collective bargaining tools, while developing a joint action plan for monitoring suspicious mining activities and promoting a Green Accountability Campaign.
The highlight of the event was the conferment of a Fellowship Award on Olukoyede by MINILS in recognition of his contributions to the fight against corruption and related economic crimes.
