UN, NSCDC Partner to Protect Lives, Livelihoods from Illegal Mining

For many Nigerians in mining communities, digging for minerals is a way to put food on the table. But when mining is done illegally, that livelihood can come at a heavy cost—destroyed farmland, polluted water, unsafe working conditions and rising insecurity.

That is why the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are strengthening cooperation to tackle illegal mining and its links to organised crime and terrorism.

According to the NSCDC, proceeds from illegal mining can help finance criminal networks and terrorist activities, turning Nigeria’s mineral wealth into a potential source of insecurity.

The impact is felt most by ordinary people. Farmers can lose productive land, families can be exposed to contaminated water and miners can face dangerous working conditions. At the same time, illegal extraction deprives communities and the country of revenue that could support development.

The UN-NSCDC partnership will focus on stronger intelligence, financial investigations, enforcement and cooperation against those profiting from illicit mining.

But for Nigerians whose livelihoods depend on mining, the solution cannot be enforcement alone. They also need legal, safer and sustainable ways to earn a living.

The real goal, therefore, is bigger than stopping illegal mining: protecting lives, preserving livelihoods and ensuring Nigeria’s mineral wealth works for its people—not criminals.