John Attah, commander of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) mining marshals, says the country’s rapidly evolving security threats have outpaced the capacity of any single institution.
Attah spoke in Abuja on Thursday at the 2025 RazorNews Inter-Agency Cooperation Awards with the theme “Institutional collaboration as a tool for counterterrorism and crime.”
He said terror and criminal networks have become more adaptive and transnational, using illegal mining, arms trafficking, cyber tools and cross-border logistics to finance violence.
The commander described Nigeria’s solid minerals sector as a “critical economic lifeline” infiltrated by criminal syndicates, turning illegal mining into “an accelerant feeding the machinery of terror”.
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He said the mining marshals were created to cut off those illicit pipelines and reclaim areas previously dominated by non-state actors.
Attah said the unit’s early successes, including disrupting illegal mining hubs, recovering stolen minerals and dismantling long-standing networks, were possible because of collaboration with the army, police, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other security formations.
“These criminals operate without boundaries, without bureaucracies and without hesitation. To defeat such threats, no single institution — no matter how capable — can act alone,” he said.
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He said Nigeria’s security system is only as effective as the interdependence of its component agencies, with failures in one part affecting the entire architecture.
The commander warned that criminal networks are evolving quickly by deploying drones, encrypted communication and cryptocurrency, while state institutions remain limited by silos and bureaucratic rivalry.
He called for laws mandating intelligence-sharing, joint operations, unified prosecution frameworks and shared training platforms.
“Intelligence is the oxygen of counter-terrorism. When agencies share data in real time, threats are neutralised before they mature,” he said.
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He said collaboration cuts costs, avoids duplication, and boosts public confidence at a time when security budgets are under pressure.
Attah said Nigeria’s adversaries operate with unified intent and must be countered with a unified strategy.
“We, too, must be united — by purpose, strategy and patriotism. Collaboration is not just a tool. It is our strongest weapon,” he said.
He reaffirmed the mining marshals’ readiness to work with federal, state, local and international partners to protect the nation’s mineral assets and dismantle networks fuelling insecurity.
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