Environmental Toxins and Public Health Crises of Illegal Mining in Nigeria

Illegal and artisanal mining has become one of the most consequential drivers of environmental contamination and public health deterioration in Nigeria, particularly across the gold and base metal belts of Zamfara, Niger, Osun, Ebonyi, and Plateau States. This research synthesises recent peer reviewed empirical evidence to examine how unregulated ore processing releases lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic into soil, water, and food systems, and how this contamination translates into measurable harm to human health. Drawing on soil and water assays, blood lead level studies, and health risk assessments from mining communities across the country, the chapter traces the pathway from geochemical contamination to clinical outcome, with particular attention to the disproportionate vulnerability of children. It situates this evidence within a rentier state framework, arguing that weak regulatory capacity and elite complicity in illegal mining networks have allowed environmental exposure to persist largely unabated since the 2010 Zamfara lead poisoning disaster. The research further considers the political economy of who benefits from illegal mining and who bears its health costs, before reviewing the record of remediation efforts and the policy reforms needed to break the cycle of contamination. It concludes that Nigeria's illegal mining crisis is fundamentally a public health emergency masquerading as an economic and security problem, and that any durable response must integrate environmental remediation, health surveillance, and formalisation of artisanal mining livelihoods.

illegal mining, heavy metal contamination, lead poisoning, artisanal mining

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