The agency disclosed this on Monday after the Chief of the Africa Section of the Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB) at UNODC, Tullio Santini, led a delegation to a meeting with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Mining Marshals.
Santini described the NSCDC Mining Marshals’ enforcement unit as critical to efforts to tackle illegal mining and its associated criminal activities in Nigeria.
Discussions at the meeting focused on the UNODC Crime-Terrorism Nexus Initiative, led by Robert Haslinger, a law enforcement expert from the Swedish Police.
According to the UNODC, the initiative is aimed at strengthening cooperation between governments and law enforcement agencies to disrupt the financial and operational connections between organised criminal networks and terrorist groups.
The agency said addressing these links is essential to tackling the wider security threats associated with illegal mining and other forms of organised criminal activity.
Speaking on behalf of the NSCDC Commandant General, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, Commander John Onoja Attah described UNODC’s support as important to the fight against illegal mining in Nigeria.
He noted that previous training programmes supported by the UN agency had significantly improved cooperation between the Mining Marshals and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
The engagement is expected to further strengthen collaboration among security and financial intelligence agencies in tackling illegal mining and the criminal networks that benefit from the sector.
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