Terrorist-controlled mining sites in Nigeria’s northwest have trapped thousands of villagers in a brutal system of forced labour, extortion and mass abductions, with armed groups seizing gold mines to fund a sprawling war economy.

Among them is Saidu Modi, a farmer from a small village in Zamfara State who fled his home in 2020 only to find himself enslaved in the very mines he once worked.

In 2020, motorcycle-riding gunmen pillaged his village, killed his friend and forced him to flee through a window in the dead of night. But the horror was only beginning.

Bandits have turned villagers into forced labourers at gunpoint to extract gold from illegal mining sites. The Zamfara State Community Protection Guards (CPG) commandant, DIG Muhammad Shehu Daligent (rtd), told reporters in April 2026: “The bandits enslave villagers to mine gold and send people to sell it for them.”

DIG Daligent made the remarks while parading eight suspects in Gusau, after security operatives intercepted 98 landmines and ₦13.3 million in cash being smuggled to bandits in Maru Local Government Area

The explosives, he warned, could have killed untold numbers had they reached the bandits fuels conflict economy

The gold extracted from Zamfara’s illegal mines is directly funding terrorism, with proceeds used to purchase weapons. Security experts say that as long as illegal mining continues unchecked, bandits will retain the upper hand in the region.

The scale of the problem is staggering. Illegal mining is draining an estimated ₦13.7 trillion annually from Nigeria’s economy while arming criminal networks. A 2025 investigation by the Centre for Democracy and Development revealed that one bandit kingpin, Kachalla Mati, reportedly rakes in ₦300 million every week from illicit mining fields.

Bandit leaders now demand gold instead of cash, extortion for access to mining sites. In August 2025, a notorious bandit chief identified as Sani Black reportedly gave four communities in Zurmi LGA an ultimatum to deliver 150 kilogrammes of pure gold as a “protection levy” or face attacks.

A local youth leader, who spoke anonymously for security reasons, said: “He believes several of them have access to gold.” Another resident added: “The terrorists know we no longer have money or animals to give them, so they’re asking for gold, which they believe we can provide.”

Illegal gold mining has been repeatedly identified as the main driver of the escalating insecurity in Zamfara, where bandits and illicit miners reinforce each other. In April 2019, the federal government imposed a ban on mining in the state, citing a “strong and glaring nexus between the activities of armed bandits and illicit miners.” But despite the ban, illegal activities persisted.

In November 2022, the ICPC secured an interim order to forfeit 10 properties linked to a former Zamfara governor, alleging they were “proceeds of corruption stemming from illegal activities” including mining.

On April 24, 2025, heavily armed bandits stormed a mining site, opening fire indiscriminately and killing 19 illegal miners in what witnesses called a betrayal. That same month, Amnesty International Nigeria reported that armed men on motorcycles killed at least 20 people in the mining village of Gobirawa Chali, after first targeting a gold-mining site where they killed 14 people before more bodies were found inside homes and a mosque.

This story is based on verified reports, expert testimonies, and official statements from Nigerian security agencies. Some names have been changed to protect the identities of individuals in active danger zones.

In August 2025, the Nigerian military announced it had killed more than 100 gang members in a joint air and ground operation in Zamfara’s Bukkuyum LGA, after intelligence showed over 400 bandits were preparing to attack a farming village.

But for the helpless villagers trapped in bandit-controlled zones, military operations offer little solace. As one community leader in Dan Gulbi district told Amnesty International in April 2025: “The people of Dan Gulbi district have been repeatedly attacked by gunmen and continue to live perpetually in fear of a potential attack.” Residents now require armed security escorts just to travel in and out of the area.

For Saidu Modi, who once jumped through his window into the darkness to escape rampaging gunmen, the nightmare never ended. He was eventually captured and forced to work the mines — a story repeated for countless others in Zamfara’s blood-soaked goldfields.