A fresh investigation has revealed that armed bandits in Zamfara State are running a booming illegal trade, exchanging gold for firearms to sustain their criminal operations.
According to the report, a top bandit commander, Kachalla Mati, confirmed that his group has been swapping gold for weapons through a network of international smugglers. “We give them gold, and they bring us guns,” Mati said in an interview. “Sometimes we sell the gold locally, other times we send it to Dubai.”
Mati, believed to have taken over from the late notorious warlord Halilu Sububu, reportedly controls several illegal mining camps in Anka, Kawaye, and Dan-kamfani areas of Zamfara State.
An investigation by Daily Trust disclosed that Mati makes between ₦200 million and ₦300 million every week from the illicit gold mining activities. Most of the proceeds, the report added, are used to buy weapons from smugglers operating around the Nigeria–Niger–Mali border.
The illegal trade, described as both lucrative and dangerous, involves bandits overseeing mining operations, collecting the gold, and exchanging it for arms and ammunition. In cases where direct exchange is not possible, the gold is sold on the black market, and the cash is used to procure weapons from middlemen in the Sahel region.
Locals working in the mining camps said they are often subjected to threats and violence.
“They beat us and sometimes shoot in the air to frighten us,” said a miner in Anka. “We mine and clean the gold, and they come to take everything.”
Security analysts warn that the growing gold-for-guns trade is further strengthening bandit groups and fueling the cycle of violence across Zamfara and other parts of northwestern Nigeria.
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