The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced two Chinese nationals to five years’ imprisonment each for their involvement in illegal mining activities and the unlawful export of Nigeria’s solid minerals.
The convicts, Zhang Hong Lin and Gao Pei Hai, were prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Akintayo Aluko on charges bordering on conspiracy and the illegal possession and exportation of mineral resources.
According to the anti-graft agency, the defendants faced a five-count charge related to conspiracy and the unlawful possession of mineral resources intended for export without the necessary government authorisation.
The EFCC told the court that the two men, alongside another suspect, Gao Pei Yu, who remains at large, conspired in 2025 to illegally export valuable mineral resources, including mica products, copper-bearing minerals and lithium-bearing minerals, without approval from the appropriate authorities.
The prosecution further alleged that their actions were aimed at defrauding the federal government of revenue derived from the nation’s solid mineral resources, contrary to the provisions of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1983.
When the charges were read in court, both defendants pleaded guilty.
Following the guilty pleas, prosecution counsel, H.U. Kofarnaisa, called the investigating officer, Matthew Orogwu, to present the facts of the case.
The witness tendered documentary evidence linking the defendants to the offences.
Satisfied with the evidence before the court, Kofarnaisa urged Justice Aluko to convict and sentence the defendants in accordance with the law.
In his ruling, Justice Aluko found Zhang Hong Lin and Gao Pei Hai guilty on all five counts and sentenced each of them to five years’ imprisonment on every count.
The court, however, gave each convict the option of paying a fine of ₦50 million covering all five counts.
Justice Aluko also ordered that all mineral resources recovered during the investigation be forfeited to the federal government of Nigeria.
The conviction marks another enforcement action by the EFCC against the illegal exploitation and exportation of Nigeria’s mineral resources, a sector that has increasingly come under government scrutiny as authorities intensify efforts to curb economic sabotage and improve revenue generation from solid minerals.
