Governor Sule’s Directive and Vindication of the Mining Marshals, by Zekeri Idakwo Laruba
Governor Abdullahi Sule’s recent suspension of mining activities in Nasarawa State may have sounded like a routine administrative measure, but anyone who has followed the undercurrents within the state’s mining corridors knows it carries deeper significance.
Beneath his remarks on insecurity, license verification, and flushing out criminal elements lies an unmistakable vindication of security operatives who have long warned about blackmail, coordinated attacks and deliberate campaigns of misinformation orchestrated by illegal mining syndicates.
One of those voices is the Mining Marshal Commander, ACC Onoja, whose repeated alerts about entrenched interests twisting narratives around enforcement efforts now echo loudly against the governor’s new policy direction.
For years, Nasarawa has battled an unregulated mining ecosystem where kidnappers, bandits and illegal miners operate in a tangled alliance. These actors hide behind community sentiment, recruit underage boys into unsafe pits and deploy well-orchestrated media and political networks to resist any effort to restore order.
They mobilise protests, fund sympathetic voices, and paint law enforcement as aggressors. Yet the governor himself has now admitted that mining has become a haven for criminals. This is the same chaotic terrain the Marshals have been trying to sanitize — and the same terrain fighting back.
When the Agwada crisis resurfaced, with allegations targeted at the Marshals, many assumed it was another community dispute. But the commander’s revelations tell a more troubling story: a cycle of blackmail designed to intimidate security operatives who refuse to compromise.
He narrated how the same actors dragged him before the police in a deliberate harassment strategy, forcing him to escalate the matter to the IGP and eventually the Senate before the case was quietly withdrawn. The pattern resurfaced when a national newspaper published a defamatory report that collapsed under scrutiny.
The commander sued. The paper apologized. The court entered it as a consent judgment. That alone speaks volumes. These are not the actions of innocent stakeholders seeking justice. They reflect the classic playbook of powerful illegal miners who see enforcement as a direct threat to their profits.
And now, with Governor Sule aligning Nasarawa with the Northern Governors’ resolution to suspend mining for six months, it is clearer than ever that the Marshal has been confronting more than community grievances — he has been battling a coordinated resistance.
The governor’s directive is not merely a policy choice; it is an acknowledgment that the sector is flooded with fake licenses, shadowy operators and criminal hideouts masquerading as legitimate sites. His insistence on re-verifying every license before operations resume is a diplomatic way of repeating what the Marshals have been saying for months: too many so-called miners are nothing more than opportunistic actors using minerals as cover for criminality.
If verification starts today, many of those attacking the Marshal will not survive the process. The sudden flare-ups of blackmail now make perfect sense.
The Northern Governors’ collective decision to contribute N19 billion monthly to strengthen security, acquire advanced equipment and build a unified response system shows how deeply criminal networks have embedded themselves within mining communities. If the problem were not this severe, the region would not contemplate halting one of its most lucrative revenue streams.
This is why traditional rulers, community leaders and influencers must step back from the noise and embrace a more responsible posture. Security operatives are not the enemy. The enemies are those who lure young boys into pits under the cover of night. The enemies are those who weaponise propaganda to undermine enforcement.
The enemies are those who want communities to distrust the very institutions trying to protect them. Governor Sule’s firm stance offers Nasarawa an opportunity to reset the narrative. Instead of amplifying unverified claims, community elites should support verification, cooperate with the Marshals and help distinguish genuine miners from criminal elements.
The state cannot afford another cycle of fake outrage, politicised protests, and orchestrated blackmail while its mineral wealth is exploited by people who answer to no one.
The Mining Marshal’s ordeal is a reminder that security agencies rarely receive applause when confronting vested interests. But the governor’s new direction validates critical parts of his claims. The message is unmistakable: the era of using blackmail and media attacks to intimidate security operatives is drawing to a close.
Nasarawa needs courage, clarity and collective responsibility — not deception wrapped in community sympathy. Governor Sule has handed the state a clean slate. The question is whether genuine stakeholders will use it, or allow those benefiting from criminal mining to hijack the conversation once again.
Zekeri Idakwo Laruba is the Assistant Editor Economic confidential. [email protected]