Two Chinese nationals have been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment each by the Federal High Court in Lagos for conspiring to illegally mine and export Nigeria’s solid mineral resources without government authorisation.
The convicts, Zhang Hong Lin and Gao Pei Hai, were also given an option of a ₦50 million fine each after pleading guilty to a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, unlawful possession and attempted export of strategic mineral resources.
The judgment was delivered on Friday by Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, following their prosecution by the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The EFCC said the defendants were arraigned for illegally possessing and attempting to export valuable solid minerals, including mica products, copper-bearing minerals and lithium-bearing mineral resources, without the approval of the appropriate Nigerian authorities.
According to the anti-graft agency, the offences were committed in 2025 in collaboration with another suspect, Gao Pei Yu, who is currently at large.
One of the charges alleged that the defendants conspired to export the minerals with the intention of defrauding the Federal Government of revenue accruing from the country’s solid minerals sector.
The charge partly read that the defendants “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 prosecution counsel, H.U. Kofarnaisa, told the court that after the defendants pleaded guilty, the EFCC called its investigating officer, Matthew Orogwu, who reviewed the facts of the case and tendered documentary evidence linking the convicts to the offences.
Kofarnaisa thereafter urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Justice Aluko found both men guilty on all five counts.
The court sentenced each of the convicts to five years’ imprisonment on each count, with an option of a ₦50 million fine covering all the counts.
The judge also ordered the forfeiture of all mineral resources recovered from the illegal operation to the Federal Government.
The conviction comes amid intensified efforts by the Federal Government and anti-corruption agencies to curb illegal mining, illicit mineral exports and revenue losses in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, particularly involving strategic minerals such as lithium, which has witnessed growing global demand.
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