Abstract
This paper assesses the national security implications of illegal mining of the solid mineral endowments of Nigeria within a resurging governmental interest in planning economic development on exploitation of these mineral deposits. The paper finds that there is wide spread illegal mining in the country with its attendant economic loss and that in spite of this organised criminal trend, government’s explicit national security policy does not prioritize illegal mining as a national security concern. It also finds that extant laws and institutions established for the protection of the solid mineral deposits of Nigeria are inadequately structured to provide the needed security coverage for these minerals from illegal mining. The paper concludes by suggesting the need to upgrade the security status of the crime of illegal mining so that policies, laws and institutions entrusted with the task of protecting these national assets can be structured and directed to purging the nation of this economic crime.
Keywords: National Security, Solid Minerals, Illegal Mining, Agencies, Statute.