By Damilola Aina
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has had to triple the number of his personal security after receiving several death threats from individuals and companies whose mining licences were revoked for failing to comply with government regulations.
He said the threats, which included text messages sent directly to his phone, became so frequent and serious that he was compelled to increase the number of armed security personnel assigned to him as a precautionary measure against possible attacks from those angered by the ministry’s renewed enforcement of mining laws.
Alake disclosed this on Friday at a pre-event press briefing ahead of the 10th edition of the Nigeria Mining Week, scheduled to hold from October 13 to 15, 2025, in Abuja.
The event, themed “Nigeria Mining: From Progress to Global Relevance,” will bring together policymakers, investors and stakeholders to assess the country’s progress in the sector.
The minister in his address, said his insistence on enforcing long-neglected mining laws and revoking dormant licences had provoked pushback from powerful interests who had enjoyed years of impunity.
“In fact, I have had to triple my personal security because I’ve received several threats from those whose licences were revoked for one form of infraction or the other,” Alake said.
“One even sent me a text message threatening me directly.”
According to him, some of those affected have resorted to intimidation and blackmail, including sponsored media attacks and spurious allegations, in an attempt to halt the ongoing reforms.
“They have employed all sorts of tactics to make us reverse these decisions,” he added. “But I told them, you can go and study my antecedents. We didn’t dance into this office; we fought battles to get here. We are battle-hardened and we will not retreat.”
The death threats followed the revocation of 3,794 mining titles, including a fresh cancellation of no fewer than 1,263 mineral licences within the last two years under Alake’s leadership.
However, the minister’s decision to boost his security detail runs contrary to President Bola Tinubu’s directive limiting ministers and top government officials to a maximum of five security personnel and no more than three vehicles in their convoys, as part of ongoing cost-cutting and efficiency reforms within the federal government.
Alake further reaffirmed that the ongoing crackdown on inactive licence holders was part of the government’s resolve to restore order, transparency and credibility to the mining sector.
He explained that the ministry discovered several operators who had held licences for more than 10 years without paying service fees or carrying out any exploration activity.
“We came in and started enforcing the regulations that had always existed but were ignored for years,” he said.
“Many held licences for over a decade, doing nothing and failing to pay their annual service fees. That kind of impunity cannot continue under our watch.”
The minister also accused some affected firms of resorting to smear campaigns and threats of international arbitration after failing to meet local regulatory requirements.
“One company that hasn’t paid service fees for years is threatening international arbitration,” Alake revealed. “I want to see the international judge who will rule in favour of a firm that violated our local laws.”
He described the attacks and intimidation as the “price of reform,” vowing that the ministry would not back down in its mission to sanitise the solid minerals industry.
“The strengthening of these regulations has come with a price,” he said. “But we are waging this battle on principle, not personality. We cannot continue doing things the same way and expect different results.”
He noted that the ministry had invoked the “use it or lose it” clause embedded in every mining title, similar to the provisions governing land ownership.
“Anywhere in the world, when you are given a certificate of occupancy, you are expected to develop the land within a specified time or lose it,” the minister said. “It’s the same thing with mining licences.”
