Despite three executive orders in three years suspending mining activities, Taraba State continues to lose more than ₦10 billion annually to illegal mining, exposing the limits of repeated government crackdowns on a lucrative underground economy sustained by weak enforcement, difficult terrain, foreign demand and alleged local complicity.
The latest executive order, signed by Governor Agbu Kefas in June 2026, is the administration’s third attempt to halt illegal mining in the state since the governor assumed office in 2023.
Each directive temporarily halted activities as excavators disappeared and mining camps shut down. But once enforcement teams withdraw, the operators quietly return, and billions of naira worth of gold, sapphire and other minerals resume flowing through informal channels.
The recurring cycle raises a critical question: Why is one of Nigeria’s mineral-rich states struggling to stop an illicit trade that, officials say, deprives it of billions of naira every year?
A thriving illegal economy
