Northern governors and traditional rulers have called on President Bola Tinubu to order a six-month suspension of mining activities across the region, citing their growing link to banditry and the financing of criminal networks.
According to a report by The Nation newspaper on Monday, the appeal was part of a series of resolutions reached yesterday in Kaduna during a joint meeting of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council. The leaders also agreed to establish a N1 billion-per-month Northern Security Trust Fund to strengthen coordinated security operations across the 19 states.
Reading the communiqué at the end of the meeting, Gombe State Governor and NSGF Chairman, Inuwa Yahaya, said illegal mining has become a major catalyst for insecurity, providing armed groups with revenue streams and enabling the continued destabilisation of rural communities. The leaders urged President Tinubu to direct the Minister of Solid Minerals to conduct a six-month revalidation of all mining licences.
Yahaya expressed concern over the surge in killings, mass abductions and attacks across Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Sokoto, Jigawa and Kano states, along with renewed Boko Haram activities in Borno and Yobe. He commended recent rescue operations ordered by President Tinubu and praised security agencies for their ongoing efforts against bandits and insurgents.
They further pledged to work closely with the Federal Government to restore stability, noting that the proposed mining suspension and new security fund would help disrupt criminal financing channels, reinforce law enforcement capacity and improve regional security coordination.
The N1 billion monthly trust fund is expected to be financed through deductions from state and local government allocations under a mutually agreed framework.
Yahaya added that insecurity in the North cannot be solved solely through military action, stressing the need to tackle underdevelopment, illiteracy, unemployment, climate pressures and poor resource management.
Speaking at the meeting, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani criticised the current centralised policing system, describing it as inadequate for a country of over 230 million people and vast ungoverned territories.
