Taraba State is estimated to be losing more than ₦10 billion annually to illegal mining despite three executive orders issued within three years to suspend mining activities and dismantle unauthorised operations across the state.
The latest directive, signed by Governor Agbu Kefas in June 2026, represents the third major attempt by his administration to stop the illicit extraction and movement of gold, sapphire, quartz and other valuable minerals since he assumed office in 2023.
Although each order initially forced miners to abandon excavation sites and shut down temporary camps, the impact has reportedly been short-lived. Operators often return after enforcement teams withdraw, allowing valuable minerals to continue passing through informal networks without royalties, taxes or significant benefits to host communities.
The repeated return of the miners has raised questions about the effectiveness of the government’s enforcement strategy and the networks sustaining the trade despite arrests, equipment seizures and the establishment of special task forces.
Taraba’s experience reflects a broader national challenge. The House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals has estimated that Nigeria loses about $9 billion annually to illegal mining and mineral smuggling.
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has also reported that the solid-minerals sector generated about ₦401.87 billion in 2023 but continued to account for less than one per cent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product despite the country’s extensive mineral deposits.
In Taraba, earlier investigations revealed a thriving informal gemstone economy around Mayo Sina in Nguroje, Sardauna Local Government Area, where blue sapphire reportedly valued at between ₦60 million and ₦100 million was traded daily.
Much of the trade was allegedly controlled by middlemen and foreign buyers from countries including Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Cameroon, while the local miners operated without proper licences and received only a fraction of the international value of the gemstones.
Many residents of the affected communities nevertheless depend on artisanal mining as their primary source of income, making enforcement more complicated in areas where few alternative livelihoods exist.
Illegal mining has reportedly continued in Sardauna, Karim Lamido, Bali, Gashaka, Kurmi, Ussa and Yorro local government areas, among other parts of the state.
In December 2024, miners were found to have returned to Abujan Leda in Jamtari Ward of Gashaka Local Government Area months after security agencies dismantled their camps.
Labourers operating in the area alleged that they sometimes received advance information about impending raids, enabling them to abandon the sites temporarily and return after the enforcement officers had left.
Residents attributed the recurring activity to weak surveillance, the absence of clear guidelines for artisanal miners and suspected cooperation between illegal operators and individuals within the affected communities.
One of the government’s largest enforcement operations occurred in September 2023, when the Taraba State Environmental Protection Task Force raided a mining location at Mayo Sina.
The operation reportedly resulted in the recovery of 22,373 kilogrammes of blue sapphire, the arrest of more than 100 suspected illegal miners and the seizure of mining equipment.
Despite the scale of the operation, unauthorised extraction reportedly resumed in several locations, underscoring the difficulty of permanently securing mining sites hidden in forests, valleys and remote settlements.
The illegal mining network also extends beyond Taraba State. Court records relating to the January 2025 prosecution of suspects arrested at the Abujan Leda site identified defendants from Plateau, Bauchi and Niger states alongside residents of Taraba.
The Chairman of the Taraba State Task Force on Environmental Protection, Public Safety and Prohibition of Deforestation, Jeremiah Faransa, has also disclosed that nationals of Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad were among persons arrested during enforcement operations.
The involvement of individuals from other Nigerian states and neighbouring countries has strengthened concerns that illegal mining in Taraba is supported by organised interstate and cross-border networks rather than being limited to impoverished local labourers.
Although many artisanal miners rely on basic tools, task-force operations have also uncovered explosives, detonating cables and dynamite, suggesting that some groups have adopted more sophisticated and dangerous extraction methods.