Chinese-affiliated miners operating under the licences of Eso Terra Investment Limited and Majelo Global Resources Limited plundered the country’s natural resources at Kurebe and other surrounding villages while bribing armed bandits faction of Dogo Gide. For WikkiTimes, YAKUBU MOHAMMED unearthed the dark world of terrorism funding fueling insecurity in Niger State.

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Despite the presence of terror groups like the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and a faction of terrorists led by Dogo Gide, a notorious outlaw, illegal mining activities have continued in Kurebe and other surrounding villages in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

This illegal activity continues to happen despite the fact that many residents have deserted the area following a double-edged attack that was recently carried out by the military on supposed terrorists.

Claiming to have acted upon intelligence, the Nigerian Air Force killed at least 14 villagers, including minor girls and a woman, in Kurebe. Unfortunately, the military operations that were carried out in April and August last year resulted in the death of many locals, leaving the terrorists unhurt.

After the military attack, a few survivors fled to Udawa, a neighbouring community in Kaduna, while others took refuge in some settlements in Niger State.

The terrorists, however, stayed back, making money from illegal mining activities and extorting farmers who had constantly been struggling all their lives to make ends meet.

A local miner, who asked to be identified as Yeri, said the terrorists demanded less money from the farmers because they got more money from their illegal mining activities.

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Two other local miners corroborated Yeri’s claim, but were too afraid to go into details.

INTO THE DARK WORLD OF TERRORISM FUNDING

Local miners who worked with the companies explained that there are three mining sites in the axis. These sites are located in Maikanwa, Santali and Ndagbaci, all in Niger State.

Konzites, one of the mined stones, is usually packaged in cement sacks and transported to Udawa. The stones are later transported to Lagos and then finally to China. The transportation chain was confirmed in a video obtained by this reporter.

The terrorists would, On many occasions, seize the mined stones and stall operations until they receive millions of naira and motorcycles in bribe, the local miners revealed.

“When we finish excavating,  the terrorists would not always allow us take the stones out until they are given money, sometimes amounting to N5 million or more,” Yeri disclosed.

“When this happens, the company owners are notified and then, money is gathered and handed over to the terrorists.

“It’s a recurring event; even motorcycles are given to the terrorists as bribes. That’s the truth, but they don’t want it to be exposed, they don’t want it to end.”

MINERS DIALOGUED WITH DOGO GIDE’S MOTHER

Yeri also revealed how delegates were sent to Dogo Gide’s mother at Palalli village to engage her in a dialogue.

Palalli was where she gave birth to the terrorist about thirty years ago.

“They visited Dogo Gide’s mother and held a discussion with her on how she could talk to her son to allow people to do their work,” Yeri recalled.

“At first, we were afraid of them, but now, their existence has become a part of us; we are no longer afraid of them. As I am talking to you now, I swear to God even if it’s a hundred of them on the road, I will walk in their midst unhurt.”

Interestingly, Dogo Gide’s mother had been mediating in her terrorists son’s affairs with stakeholders in the area in the past. She had done that many times, locals including community leaders said.

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For instance, the locals claimed that, in 2022, she took part in the negotiation for the release of students kidnapped from Federal Government College, Yauri, Kebbi State.

In an audio clip exclusively obtained by WikkiTimes, Ibrahim Usman Adam, one of the leading actors involved in coordinating illegal mining activities in the axis, confirmed that negotiations with the terror kingpin’s mother usually take place before miners are allowed to operate at the sites.

Ibrahim, according to local miners, doubles as site manager for Eso Terra, the Chinese mining company in the area.

To cover its tracks, Eso Terra stopped paying the terrorists directly from its pockets. Instead, it forced local miners to extract stones that would be sold so the proceeds realised could be used to grease the terrorists’ palms.

“So, the bandits were paid N3 million every week,” one of the local miners, who asked not be named, said.

When confronted with our findings on September 9, Ibrahim initially declined to comment on the matter.

He also denied his affiliation to Eso Terra and Kurebe community. He would, however, later open up when this reporter told him about the hard evidence at our disposal.

“I am presently not working with Eso Terra. It was then,” he said, advising that further questions be channelled to government officials.

“You can go to Shiroro and meet the chairman to ask questions about the communities. Even though my company works in Kurebe, you can not ask me,” Ibrahim yelled.

Also, Metteden Abba Abdulrahman, a director at the company, denied ever operating at Kurebe. Despite his claims, however, the director did not deny knowing Ibrahim.

“I know Ibrahim as a normal person. He’s not my site manager,” Abdulrahman said over the phone.

He explained that the “self-acclaimed” site manager came to him, about three years ago, alongside one Ali Arzuka and “their Chinese” investors

“They wanted us to partner with them but I realised their style of mining was not up to standard,” Abdulrahman said.

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“So, Eso Terra has no business with bandits or the community.”

He claimed Ibrahim and “the Chinese investor” used his title to gain access to the community.

“At the time, my title was about to expire and we could not go ahead with the partnership,” said Abdulrahman.

The director noted that there are laws guiding mining activities and his company would not do anything at the expense of any community.

Research conducted by SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based analytical group revealed how Chinese companies bribed terrorist groups in some parts of the country to access mining sites.

SMB Intelligence shared its findings with The Times, a British newspaper, revealing videos of militant leaders announcing how powerful they had become that Chinese miners working in their strongholds had to pay them “rent”.

“These guys are perfectly willing to pay off whoever needs to be paid off and have no qualms about it,” Ikemesit Effiong, SBM’s head of research, had said.

A FORMER COMMISSIONER AMONG THE SYNDICATE?

Samaila Ibrahim Kuta, a former commissioner of youths and sports in Niger State, has been into local mining for a while, some local miners who had worked with him said.

The former commissioner, popularly known as Datti Majelo, owns Majelo Global Resources Limited, WikkiTimes can report. Last year, he partnered with Eso Terra to further plunder the resources of the community.

Unlike Eso Terra, Kuta, the local miners said, doesn’t have an excavator.

“His company used dynamite to blast the rock,” said a local miner. “And that is why he joined hands with them [Eso Terra].

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The partnership, according to a source, eventually fetched him N125 million between last year to now.

Kuta also feigned innocence when contacted.

“I don’t have a licence or mining operation in Kurebe area,” he said via WhatsApp on September 10.

“I can grant you interview on this.”

When contacted a day after, Datti maintained that “there is no evidence” concerning his operation in the area.

“I am not working in that area and there is no evidence,” he said.

The former commissioner later admitted he once operated in the area.

“The last time we went there was before this insecurity — that was like 10 years ago,” he claimed.

Datti also told WikkiTimes that Eso Terra’s Ibrahim and Arzuka “were the ones operating in the area.”

Asked about his partnership with the duo, he said there was nothing like such.

“We don’t have partnership per se. What happened was that they encroached into my licence before it expired,” claimed Datti.

“So I got information that they were working in my area under my licence.”

He continued: “I reported the matter to the Federal Mines Officer last year and that was the first time I saw Ibrahim and Arzuka. We met with the mine officers in Minna and the district head of Allawa.

“The mine officer said there was no way he could confirm my claim that they were working under my license until he visited the area and said the area is not accessible. I said it is  not a place I can also go, but I remembered vividly, Ibrahim said they can visit the place.”

Kuta, however, declined to comment when further grilled about how the ilegal activity allegedly fetched him millions of naira within a year.

COMPANIES DEFIED GOVERNMENT ORDER

Last year, the immediate past administration of Abubakar Sani Bello suspended mining activities in three local councils — Shiroro, Munya and Kagara. The reason for the suspension was because the areas were prone to banditry. Despite this, however, mining continues unchecked in the “unsafe sites”.

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The suspension was in reaction to an attack on a mining site at Ajata Aboki, Gurmana ward, Shiroro LGA, where scores [including security operatives] were killed. The terrorists responsible for the attack also kidnapped four Chinese workers and some civilians.

In the same vein, the present government headed by Mohammed Umaru Bago has reiterated the suspension, vowing to end illegal mining activities in the state.

Shockingly, the same governor and some of his cabinet members had a meeting with some of the principal actors fingered for illegal mining and this included Ibrahim, Arzuka and some Chinese investors on September 5.

While pictures from the meeting were exclusively obtained, WikkiTimes could not gather details of what was discussed.

Arzuka also denied working with Eso Terra and in Kurebe.

“We have a licence to go the place but it is not safe for us,” Arzuka claimed.

He, however, confirmed his affiliation to a Chinese mining company known as Ming Xin Mineral Separation Nigeria Ltd.

The company was incorporated in Jos South LGA, Plateau State.

WikkiTimes later found his claims to be false. In July 2022, Arzuka represented Eso Terra in a meeting attended by youths and community leaders from Kurebe village.

The meeting, according to youth and community leaders, was held at Aske Hotel along Neteco Road, Tunga in Minna, Niger State. At the meeting, issues of signing a community development agreement were discussed.

The issues that were agreed upon which included construction of school, road and borehole, were later frustrated by worsening insecurity, Shehu Yahaya, a Kurebe monarch whose jurisdiction covers the mining sites, said.

STATE MINISTRY WORRIED

Engineer Adamu Garba Musa, the director of  mining in the Niger State Ministry of Solid and Mineral Resources, said the ministry is baffled by the fact that mining activities thrive in such an unsafe setting.

“We heard of Eso Terra through the chairman of Kurebe youth association,” Musa told WikkiTimes via a phone interview.

He believes the company seemed to have obtained a title from the federal government and refused to announce its presence to the state ministry.

“We forwarded the petition [written by the youth association] to the federal mining office in Minna to give us information about those companies. Up till now, they haven’t told us anything,” Musa explained.

The director said his ministry had invited the mining companies three weeks ago, but they “refused to show up”.

“We don’t even know they already have an agreement with bandits,” Musa said in reaction to our findings.

“We also ask that question: If bandits are disturbing people, how come the company is working successfully?”

When asked about the action the ministry would take regarding what had been unearthed, Musa said: “We will just make a recommendation to the necessary authority… to tell them this is what is happening. That the mining company they gave a title is working hand in hand with bandits.”

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Further checks show that Eso Terra and Majelo Global Resources Limited Global Services were accredited by the federal government. This information was obtained from the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (NMCO).

The data confirmed the presence of the companies in Shiroro LGA.

NMCO is a body responsible for the administration and management of mineral titles under the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.

Daniel Garba Gadzama, the Federal Mines Officer (FMO) at the Federal Ministry of Mineral Resources in Niger State, said he knew the companies, but did not know they were indeed operating in the areas mentioned.

“They came to me about two years ago with a licence and I gave them a commencement letter, but I don’t know the way they were operating as you told me now,” Gadzama explained. He also stated that the area the miners were operating in is “not secure.”

The FMO said he would share our findings with his superiors in Abuja.

A staffer at the Federal Ministry of Mineral Resources, who spoke to WikkiTimes in confidence, said Eso Terra did not have even a single at their office.

Yahaya, the monarch, said he was not aware the mining company was bribing terrorists. He, however, confirmed its presence in the banditry-torn community.

The monarch, in conclusion, pleaded with the government to end the high level of insecurity ravaging his community.

Umar Ango, the Chairman of Kurebe Youth Development Association (KUYUDA) corroborated the monarch’s comments saying, “I don’t know whether the company bribes the terrorists, but we know they are illegally operating in our community and we are not benefitting anything,” he said.

In a WhatsApp chat with WikkiTimes, the governor said his administration would investigate the revelations that had been made.

“Thank you very much, we’ll investigate this report accordingly,” he wrote.

“We’re already ahead in combating all mining activities in the state. In a short time from now, you’ll feel our impact, Insha Allah.”

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We altered and concealed our sources’ names for security reasons.

This report was completed with the support of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development and the Open Society Foundations.