Loading ...ABUJA, NIGERIA — A sophisticated, multimillion-Naira organized crime cartel has completely hijacked the Daba axis of the historic Old Oyo National Park, converting Nigeria’s protected heritage site into a massive illegal lithium mining field. Whistleblower intelligence and tracking data leaked from the ground reveal that a powerful transit cabal is making tens of millions of Naira daily, utilizing a massive fleet of commercial motorcycles (Okada) to smuggle high-value lithium minerals out of the forest reserves.
The illicit earth minerals, highly sought after globally for the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries and electronics, are being systematically plundered from the national park and moved via a highly synchronized pipeline directly into the border towns of Kishi and Igbeti in Oyo State.
The Economics of Sabotage: Inside the Okada Syndicate
Information obtained by 247ureports exposes a highly structured war economy operating under the guise of local transportation. According to on-the-ground monitors tracking the illegal mining logistics, the operation has given rise to an incredibly lucrative, unauthorized union that dictates the transit of the stolen minerals.
The scale of the illicit wealth circulating within the ring is staggering:
- The Transport Fee: Every single Okada rider operating within the cartel charges a flat, extortionate rate of 12,000 Naira per bag of lithium moved from the Daba mining site to the Kishi or Igbeti drop-off hubs.
- The Union’s Daily Cut: The shadowy figures acting as the “union” or enforcement wing for the motorcycle fleet rake in an astronomical 20 million to 50 million Naira daily in transit taxes and coordination fees.
- The Riders’ Fortune: Individual commercial motorcyclists working under this illegal mining syndicate walk away with an unprecedented daily take-home pay of up to 200,000 Naira—dwarfing any legitimate transport earnings in the country.
“The whole illegal mining stuff is a massive cabal and an organized crime network,” a local tracking group, Mobilisingnigerians™, raised the alarm. “They have built their own parallel economy inside the national park, complete with law enforcement evasion tactics and their own financial clearinghouse.”
A National Security Flashpoint
The plundering of Old Oyo National Park is no longer just an environmental disaster; it has rapidly transformed into a major security threat for the South-West. For over a year, joint security operations have targeted illegal lithium rings in Kishi, previously leading to the high-profile arrests of local collaborators and Chinese nationals operating unregistered processing sites under the guise of tire recycling factories.
Security experts have repeatedly warned the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and the National Park Service that the massive influx of cash into these illegal mining networks is directly funding banditry, kidnapping, and the militarization of rural communities along the Kishi-Igbeti road corridors. The vast sums of money generated by the transport union allow the cabal to compromise local informants and easily bypass official security checkpoints.
The 247ureports Takeaway: Abuja Must Wake Up
While President Bola Tinubu’s administration has continuously promised to sanitize the solid minerals sector and unleash a special 2,200-member mining marshal force to protect national assets, the reality at Old Oyo National Park proves that the government is losing the battle to a localized, well-funded cartel.
When ordinary Okada riders can take home 200,000 Naira a day from smuggling stolen national resources, the incentive to remain law-abiding vanishes entirely. If the federal government fails to deploy heavy tactical military intervention to seal off the Daba axis and dismantle the leadership of the Kishi-Igbeti transport cabal, one of Nigeria’s largest protected ecological and historical monuments will be completely hollowed out by criminals.
247ureports is reaching out to the Oyo State Security Network (Amotekun) and the Ministry of Solid Minerals for an official stance on this rampant, open-air economic sabotage. Stay tuned for deeper revelations.
