The Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) has linked illegal mining operations by Chinese companies in Nigeria to significant revenue losses. In its report, Silent Conquest: The Chinese Infiltration of Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Sector, RDI warned that these unregulated activities threaten efforts to diversify the economy beyond oil and gas.
The study analyzed developments from 2018 to 2025 across major mineral-rich states including Zamfara, Nasarawa, Kogi, Osun, Kwara, Plateau, and Niger.
The report noted that illegal mining has caused environmental degradation, social tensions, and displacement of local farmers. “In many host communities, illegal operations have turned farmlands, forests and riverbeds into unregulated extraction fields, causing environmental degradation, increasing social tension, and depriving the government of substantial revenue,” it stated.
The findings highlighted weak regulation, institutional complicity, and systemic opacity enabling Chinese nationals and their local collaborators to operate with impunity.
RDI also warned of national security risks linked to armed groups benefiting from illegal mining. “Without firm and coordinated government action, the sector risks slipping further into the hands of unregulated actors who undermine national security and deprive the country of significant revenue,” the report noted. It called for criminalizing illegal mining, strengthening legal frameworks, enforcing environmental accountability, and tightening oversight of foreign operators.