Chinese Nationals Nailed for Illegal Mining, Face Five-Year Jail

• Federal High Court in Lagos convicts two Chinese nationals after they pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally mine and export Nigeria’s strategic mineral resources without government approval.

• EFCC prosecutors present documentary evidence and witness testimony linking the defendants to the unlawful possession and planned export of lithium-bearing, copper-bearing, and mica mineral resources, with a third suspect still at large.

• Justice Akintayo Aluko sentences each convict to five years’ imprisonment on all five counts, affirming the judiciary’s resolve to punish economic crimes in the solid minerals sector.

• Court orders the forfeiture of all recovered mineral resources to the Federal Government, strengthening ongoing efforts to combat illegal mining and protect Nigeria’s mineral wealth from illicit exploitation.

July 31, () — The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of two Chinese nationals, Zhang Hong Lin and Gao Pei Hai, for conspiracy and the illegal mining and attempted export of Nigeria’s solid minerals.

Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, convicted the defendants after they pleaded guilty to a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy and the unlawful possession of mineral resources intended for export without lawful authority.

According to the Commission, the defendants were arraigned for conspiring to export valuable mineral resources (including mica products, copper-bearing minerals, and lithium-bearing minerals), without obtaining the approval of the appropriate authorities.

One of the charges alleged that Zhang Hong Lin, Gao Pei Hai, and Gao Pei Yu, who is currently at large, sometime in 2025 conspired to defraud the Federal Government of Nigeria of revenue by unlawfully engaging in the exportation of mineral resources from the country.

The charge read in part: “That you, Zhang Hong Lin, Gao Pei Hai, and Gao Pei Yu (currently at large), sometime in 2025 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired among yourselves, with the intent to defraud the Federal Government of Nigeria of revenue accruing therefrom, and without the permission of the appropriate authority, engaged in the exportation of mica products, copper-bearing, and lithium-bearing mineral resources out of Nigeria…”

The offence is contrary to Section 1(8)(a) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1983, and punishable under Section 8 of the same Act.

Both defendants pleaded guilty when the charges were read.

Following their guilty pleas, prosecution counsel, H.U. Kofarnaisa, called the investigating officer, Matthew Orogwu, who reviewed the facts of the case before the court and tendered documentary evidence in support of the prosecution’s case.

Kofarnaisa thereafter urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants in accordance with the law.

Court Orders Jail Term, Mineral Forfeiture

Delivering judgment, Justice Aluko found both defendants guilty on all five counts. The court sentenced each of them to five years’ imprisonment on each of the five counts, with an option of a ₦50 million fine each covering all the counts.

Justice Aluko also ordered the forfeiture of all recovered mineral resources connected with the offences to the Federal Government of Nigeria.