NCTC, UNODC Inaugurate Working Group to Counter Criminal and Terrorist Finance in Nigeria’s Mineral Sector

By: Michael Mike

The National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and with the support of the Government of Canada, has established a Technical Working Group (TWG) on Mineral Crime and Terrorism Financing.

Nigeria’s mineral sector, particularly artisanal and small-scale gold mining, has increasingly been exploited by criminal and terrorist networks.

These illicit activities have continued to deprive the government of vital tax and royalty revenues, weaken state capacity to deliver essential services, and fuel instability nationwide. By exploiting regulatory gaps and opaque value chains, criminal groups disguise illicit proceeds, perpetuating conflict and organized crime in the country.

The TWG, comprising representatives of law enforcement, intelligence and other security agencies,  including those of other strategic MDAs and the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Initiative (PAGMI) under the latest agreement, will collaborate to strengthen the nation’s criminal justice capacity to address illicit financial flows tied to terrorism financing and money laundering in the mining sector by coordinating individual agency responses, supporting national efforts, and guiding policy reforms.

It will also promote community resilience in artisanal mining regions while integrating gender equality and human rights into government interventions.

 In his keynote speech at the inaugural meeting of the working group, the NCTC National Coordinator,  Major General Adamu Garba Laka, who was represented by the Centre’s Director of Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, Ambassador Mairo Musa Abbas underscored the Federal Government of Nigeria’s commitment to cutting off terrorist financing at its source, including in the mineral sector.

He said: “Nigeria’s mineral resources remain some of the most valuable national assets we possess. Yet in recent years, the growing exploitation of these resources by criminal syndicates and violent extremist elements has become a significant threat. This is not merely a theoretical risk; it is a lived reality in several regions of our country, where illegal mining intersects with banditry, insurgency, arms trafficking and cross-border smuggling. In past years, the NCTC has recorded remarkable progress in strengthening Nigeria’s counter-terrorism financing architecture. Today’s initiative builds on this momentum. Protecting our mineral resources from criminal capture is not only a security imperative, but it is also a development imperative, an economic imperative and, ultimately, a sovereign duty.”

On his part, UNODC Country Representative for Nigeria, Mr Cheikh Toure,, in his remarks conveyed by Mr Tom Parker, Head of the UNODC  Counter Terrorism Unit, praised the leadership of the NCTC, while emphasising that “Illegal mining, and the illicit financial flows generated by this activity, undermine Nigeria’s stability and development. The creation of this interagency Working Group by the NCTC is an important step in reversing this trend. UNODC is committed to strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to detect, investigate, and prosecute financial crimes linked to terrorism and organized crime. Collaboration is fundamental to defeating criminal and terrorist threats, and helps foster shared learning and policy innovation.”

Funded by the Government of Canada, UNODC is working closely with the NCTC together with agencies like Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, National Financial Intelligence Unit, the Mining Marshals Corps and the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development to build Nigeria’s capacity towards combating illicit financial flows linked to Nigeria’s mineral sector by deepening analysis of relationship between mineral-related crimes and the financing of terrorism, strengthening supervision in the financial sector by equipping both private and government actors to detect suspicious transactions, and supporting the effective investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of money laundering and terrorism financing cases at the state and federal levels.

NCTC, UNODC Inaugurate Working Group to Counter Criminal and Terrorist Finance in Nigeria’s Mineral Sector

NCoS empowers 120 inmates in Gombe

By Peter Uwumarogie

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) says it has trained 120 inmates in vocational skills in six custodial centres in Gombe State.

The Controller of Corrections, Mr Felix Agada, said this during the graduation ceremony of the inmates on Wednesday at Tula community in Kaltungo Local Government Area of the state.

He said the initiative was of part of the mandate of the service to reform and rehabilitate inmates into better citizens upon their release from the centres.

“The aim of this skill acquisition is to achieve the Reformation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration programme of the service.

“This is to ensure that inmates become useful to themselves and the society at large after discharge to reduce the rate of crime among the youths in our communities,” he said.

Agada said the programme was being initiated and supported in collaboration with the state Chief Judge, Justice Halima Mohammed, and Smart Ideas Multi Consult Ltd.

He commended the state government’s support towards empowering the inmates and ensuring that they return to their communities with dignity upon serving out their jail terms.

Also, Justice Mohammed said her belief that everyone deserved opportunity to become better citizens moved her to initiate the programme.

She said that studies had shown that where well-structured rehabilitation and skill acquisition exist for inmates, crime rate drops drastically by more than half because “opportunity is the antidote to crime.

“In Nigeria, correctional centres were not designed to be the permanent destination; they are meant to be a bridge back into the society, not warehouse for human potential.

“Without skills, inmates who have served out their terms can not compete, without support they cannot stand, and without acceptance, they cannot start again,” she said.

Mohammed said the initiative was borne out of the need to ensure that every ex-inmate did not go back to crime but to become a “tax payer, business starter and an artisan.

“This is important because every ex inmate lost to the street is a child without a provider, community without peace and a country without productivity.”

She lauded the government’s role in reforming inmates, and stressed the need for societal support to effectively address the task of skilling every inmate while providing them with starter packs upon their release.

“Correctional reform is not a project, it’s a partnership, not a policy but a social contract; today’s fund raising is not charity but nation building, security management, economic investment and a moral duty.”

The judge therefore advocated for collective support to empower inmates with the right skills and tools.

According to Mohammed, investment in that regard is an investment in safer streets, stronger families and a more hopeful country.

Mr Musa Nelson, Head of Skills Acquisition Programmes, NCoS, said the inmates were exposed to carpentry, tailoring, fashion design, cosmetology, shoe and bags making, laundry, barbing and make up.

He said the inmates would be provided with starter packs after their six-month training exercise.

Some of the inmates commended the gesture and urged stakeholders to assist them with the required tools in line with their area of training to enable them to set up their businesses.

Katampe Residents Call on Wike to Intervene in Illegal Extortion

By: Michael Mike

Residents of Katampe Extension in Abuja have been sent into panic as a group of thugs, in the company of some gun-toting policemen, raided the district.

Residents alleged that the thugs and armed men went on a rampage, indiscriminately catching and bundling gatekeepers manning residential gates into their truck and driving off, for no offence, leaving the residences unsecured with some gates left wide open.

The residents sounded the alarm over what they described as the unlawful and dangerous campaign by the Bwari Area Council to extort money from them under the guise of enforcing payment for radio and television licenses, calling for the immediate intervention of the Federal Capital Territory Minister, the Inspector General of Police and the Judicial Service Commission to avert a total break down of law and order in the district.

A statement signed by the Katampe Extension Residents Association President, Mohammed Gimba, described the situation as “bizarre”, noting that supposed agents and officials of the Bwari Area Council are resorting to self-help and taking the law into their own hands.

He described a situation where law-abiding citizens performing their legitimate duties in a private residential building are summarily rounded up like common criminals and imprisoned by officials of the council, as a breach of their fundamental human rights and a flagrant disregard of law and order.

The chairman said: “What we have currently is a situation whereby bystanders, private security men and house helps are being randomly arrested and detained by council officials with the aid of the police, instead of the homeowners. This is impunity and an illegality taken too far.”

He noted that, under Nigerian law, specifically the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, a person can only be arrested or detained if there’s reasonable suspicion of their involvement in a crime (Section 35 of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999, and Section 7 of ACJA). The police don’t have the authority to detain someone just because they’re related to or are the employee of a suspect.

He said: “The law doesn’t allow for ‘substitutional’ detention. More worrisome is the fact that the contentious issue of radio and TV license fees being demanded by the Bwari area council is purely a civil matter for which the district is collectively seeking legal interpretation against the background that the Abuja Municipal Area Council recently suspended the imposition of the said levy. In any case, Katampe extension falls within the Abuja Municipal Area Council and not Bwari Area Council. The escalating harassment, which has led to arrests and illegal detentions, is an attack on residents’ rights.”

The chairman said Katampe Extension has no visible project by the Bwari area council, wondering why the council is on a desperate mission to extort money from residents of the district under the guise of radio and television license, which he described as “disturbing”, particularly because the levies are to be paid into the accounts of a private company not that of the Bwari area council.

He contended that, “In a community where people are simply trying to live peacefully, these actions create fear, disrupt lives, and smack of extortion rather than lawful revenue collection.”

“In view of the above, we urge the Bwari Area Council to immediately halt these aggressive actions and engage in constructive dialogue with Katampe Extension residents. Clear explanations of the legal basis for these demands, coupled with a more consultative approach, would foster trust rather than fear. Residents are willing to engage, but they will not silently endure harassment,” the statement said.

The statement also called on FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to call the chairman of Bwari Area Council to order, to forestall a situation that can lead to total breakdown of law and order in Katampe Extension district, as a result of the misguided and illegal activities of Bwari council officials.