The ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on Mineral Exploitation, Security and Anti-Money Laundering has called for deeper cooperation of all relevant stakeholders in the drive to address the challenges of illegal mining.
Chairman of the committee, Sanni Abdulraheem, has also lamented that illegal mining, weak enforcement and money laundering have turned Nigeria’s vast mineral resources into sources of insecurity and revenue losses.
He stated this Monday at the High-Level Stakeholders Workshop on Extractive Industry Governance in Abuja.
He said the committee was raised to investigate illegal mineral exploitation across Nigeria, trace illicit financial flows from the sector, assess the effectiveness of security around mining communities and recommend reforms.
“What has become clear to us is this: no single agency, no single arm of government, and certainly no single committee of this House can resolve this crisis alone.
“The illegal mining challenge sits at the intersection of law, security, finance, community livelihood, and governance. It requires all of us, regulators, security agencies, financial intelligence institutions, state governments, traditional institutions, licensed operators, and civil society, pulling in the same direction,” he said.