Hope Ajayi 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has called for stronger collaboration with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Mining Marshals to disrupt illegal mining operations that finance terrorism and organised crime across Nigeria and West Africa.
The appeal was made during a strategic engagement between a UNODC delegation and the specialised Mining Marshals unit, where both sides discussed expanding intelligence sharing, joint enforcement operations and financial investigations targeting criminal mining networks.
The UNODC delegation, led by the Chief of the Africa Section of the Terrorism Prevention Branch, Tullio Santini, commended the Mining Marshals for increasing arrests, prosecutions and enforcement activities against illegal mining operators.
Commander of the Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps John Attah, said discussions also focused on the UNODC’s CONNECT Initiative, which is designed to help law enforcement agencies dismantle financial and operational links between organised crime and terrorist organisations.
Attah, representing NSCDC Commandant-General Prof Ahmed Audi, said previous UNODC-supported training had significantly strengthened cooperation between the Mining Marshals and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
“The previous UNODC-supported training programmes had significantly improved collaboration between the Mining Marshals and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, enhancing the ability of both institutions to coordinate investigations and intelligence-led operations against illegal mining syndicates,” he said.
He urged the UNODC to include the Mining Marshals in the CONNECT Initiative, stressing that illegal mineral exploitation remains a major source of illicit financing for criminal and terrorist groups.
“Disrupting the financial foundations of terrorist organisations requires greater attention to the illegal exploitation of mineral resources,” Attah said.
He also requested additional capacity building in terrorism investigations, regional intelligence sharing and international peer learning.
Nigeria is expected to join the CONNECT Initiative when it is launched in November 2026.
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Abah Felicity 
Oluwafunbi Bello