Two Chinese nationals, Zhang Hong Lin and Gao Pei Hai, have been sentenced to five years in prison each for illegal mining and the unlawful export of solid minerals from Nigeria.
Trial judge Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos convicted the two men on Friday after they pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy and unlawful possession of mineral resources intended for export.
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which prosecuted the convicts, stated that the defendants were involved in the exportation of mica, copper-bearing and lithium-bearing minerals without lawful authority.
According to a statement by EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale, on Friday, a third defendant, Gao Pei Yu, who was named in the charges, is still at large.
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The EFCC revealed that the three men conspired in 2025 in Lagos to deprive the Federal Government of revenue from the minerals and exported the resources without the approval of the relevant authorities.
The charge said the alleged conduct contravened Section 1(8)(a) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1983, and was punishable under Section 8 of the same law.
When the charges were read to them, Zhang and Gao pleaded guilty.
The prosecution then called its investigating officer, Matthew Orogwu, who told the court what the investigation uncovered and tendered documentary evidence.
Prosecution lawyer, H.U. Kofarnaisa, asked the court to convict and sentence the defendants based on the evidence before it.
Mr Aluko found the two men guilty on all five counts and sentenced each to five years’ imprisonment on each count.
The judge, however, gave them the option of paying a N50 million fine covering all five counts.
The court also ordered the recovered mineral resources to be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Earlier cases
The conviction comes after several enforcement actions by Nigerian authorities against suspected illegal mining operations involving Chinese nationals.
In 2023, the EFCC arrested 13 Chinese nationals over alleged illegal mining activities in Ilorin, Kwara State. The arrests were part of the commission’s efforts to tackle illegal mining and the movement of mineral resources outside the country.
This newspaper later reported in a 2024 investigation that Bani community in Kwara had become a centre of illegal lithium mining.
The investigation found that the growing trade had drawn miners and other actors into the community and raised questions about how illegal operators were able to extract and move the valuable mineral.
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