Nigeria is emerging as a key mining hub. Government cracks down on illegal operations

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s government is cracking down on illegal mining, making dozens of arrests of unlicensed miners since April for allegedly stealing the country’s lithium, a key mineral used in electric vehicle batteries , smartphones and electrical systems.

The recent arrests come as Nigeria seeks to regulate its critical mineral mining operations, curb illegal activities and better leverage its mineral resources. The clean energy transition, the shift away from coal, oil and gas to renewable energy and batteries, has driven up global demand for lithium, tin and other minerals. Illegal mining is common in the country’s fledgling industry, as corruption among regulatory officials is common and mineral deposits are located in remote areas with minimal government presence. Officials say profits from illicit mining practices have helped arm militias in the north of the county.

In the most recent arrests, in mid-May, a joint team of soldiers and police raided a remote market in Kishi, in the southwest state of Oyo. Residents said the market, once known for selling agricultural produce, has become a center for illicit trade in lithium mined in hard-to-reach areas. The three-day operation resulted in the arrest of 32 people, including two Chinese nationals, local workers and mineral traders, according to the state government and residents. Shipments of lithium were also seized.

Jimoh Bioku, a Kishi community leader, said there had been “clandestine searches” for the mineral at isolated sites hidden in the bush in recent years by Chinese nationals before “they hired people to dig to find them and transform the market into a place of transit.” indicate.” The community was “particularly concerned about the insecurity that usually follows illegal mining and that is why we reported to the state government”, he said.

China is the dominant player in the global electric vehicle supply chain, including in Nigeria, where Chinese companies mostly employ vulnerable people who are leaving Nigeria’s far north – ravaged by conflict and desertification fast – to work in mining operations throughout the country. Chinese nationals and companies are frequently in the spotlight for their environmentally harmful practices, labor exploitation and illicit mining activities. There have been at least three cases of illegal arrests involving Chinese nationals in two months.

President Bola Tinubu has repeatedly blamed worsening conflicts in the country’s north on illegal mining and called on the international community to help end the problem, which provides armed groups with the income necessary to maintain itself and arm itself.

The Chinese embassy in Abuja did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press on the arrests and allegations of illegal operations. But in a statement last year following a report in The Times of London that Chinese miners were bribing activists to gain access, the embassy said it “has always encouraged and urged companies and Chinese nationals in Nigeria to respect the laws and regulations of Nigeria”.

Nigeria is emerging as a new source of lithium in Africa, as the world’s largest producers, such as Australia and Chile, are unable to meet growing global demand. But illegal activities are thriving in Nigeria’s extractive sector, depriving the government of the revenue it is owed, said Emeka Okoro, whose Lagos-based firm SBM Intelligence has investigated illicit mining and terrorism financing in northern Nigeria.

And the combination of the effects of conflict and climate change, such as the rapid transformation of once-fertile land into useless barren sand in northern Nigeria, has produced cheap labor for mining sites.

The arrests “of Chinese nationals and young Hausa boys from conflict-affected areas highlight a worrying trend,” Okoro told the AP. “Socio-economic tensions resulting from conflict and the impacts of climate change have created a vulnerable population desperate to survive.”

To combat the theft of resources that results in annual losses of $9 billion for the government, according to the country’s extractive industries transparency watchdog, the West African country has set up a “corps of mining commissioners” made up of 2,200 men earlier in the year.

While existing law enforcement agencies are still battling the problem, the new body aims to curb “the nefarious activities of illegal miners,” said Segun Tomori, a spokesperson for the solid minerals ministry.

Before the Kishi raid, mining services stopped two trucks loaded with lithium on the outskirts of Abuja, the capital, in April. Later that month, the corps attacked a site in Karu, Nasarawa State, near Abuja, leading to the arrest of four Chinese nationals and the seizure of tonnes of lithium. Tomori said the cases were now being taken to court.

On April 22, a federal court in Ilorin, North Central Region, convicted two Chinese nationals of illegal mining and sentenced them to one year in prison, with an option of fine.

Nigeria has long neglected the solid minerals sector, allowing some communities like the country’s north-central city of Jos – which is rich in tin – to rely on subsistence mining for their livelihoods.

For communities where livelihoods are linked to mining, Tomori said the government encourages artisanal miners to form cooperatives and operate legally.

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