The Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN) has faulted calls for a nationwide suspension of mining activities, insisting that banning the sector is not the solution to the country’s security challenges.
The association stated this in a communiqué jointly signed by its National President, Dele Ayankale, and National Secretary, Sulaiman Liman, on Monday in Abuja.
This comes after the Northern States Governors’ Forum recently proposed a six-month ban on mining, linking illegal mining activities to school abductions, killings and escalating insecurity across parts of the region.
Naijaonpoint reports that the governors had argued that suspending mining would enable a comprehensive audit and revalidation of all mining licences in consultation with state governments.
However, Ayankale stressed that legal mining operations have no connection to terrorism, saying the proposed blanket ban is misdirected.
“It is the disorderly, illegal mining that is conducted without licences and government regulations and control that practices money laundering and fuels insecurity. A clear distinction must be made between legal and illegal mining. Therefore, stigmatising mining as the cause of insecurity is a misnomer,” he said.
He argued that a similar ban in Zamfara State in 2019 produced no positive results.
According to him, banditry, kidnappings and terrorism in the region worsened after the suspension and spread to neighbouring states including Katsina, Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi.
The association warned that a national suspension would punish lawful miners and their employees while giving an unfair advantage to illegal operators who, it said, thrive in unregulated conditions.
Ayankale said: “The ban would be unjust and a serious disservice to legal miners and their employees, leading to mass unemployment, worsening multidimensional poverty, alongside insecurity.”
He noted that illegal miners, often linked to criminal elements, would still access mineral resources due to the government’s limited enforcement capability.
“Unfettered access of illegal miners to the mineral resources in a banned mining location offers incentives and empowerment to criminals as they exchange the minerals for arms and ammunition,” he added.
Threat to Investment in Solid Minerals Sector
The association also warned that a ban would derail the Federal Government’s efforts to attract investment into the solid minerals sector and undermine reforms aimed at removing bottlenecks and increasing global competitiveness.
Ayankale maintained that members of the association work closely with security agencies and operate under standard, environmentally responsible guidelines.
He added that miners contribute significantly to rural development through the statutory Community Development Agreement.
“The call by our Northern Governors and Elders to ban mining activities, at a time when the nation has started welcoming pockets of investments, is not only unfortunate but highly unpatriotic,” he said.
Rather than imposing a ban, MAN urged state governors to channel part of their security votes into strengthening the Mining Marshals and other legal initiatives targeting illegal operations.
Ayankale also argued that the call for revalidation of mining licences could be interpreted as an agitation for resource control, noting that mineral resources fall exclusively under the Federal Government per the Constitution.
He appealed to President Bola Tinubu to consider the wider implications, warning that suspending mining could inadvertently push more young people into terrorist groups.
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