Two Chinese nationals have been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment each by a Federal High Court in Lagos after pleading guilty to conspiracy and the unlawful possession and intended export of Nigeria’s mineral resources without lawful authority.
The convicts, Zhang Hong Lin and Gao Pei Hai, were sentenced by Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, following their prosecution by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
They were arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy and the unlawful possession of mica, copper-bearing and lithium-bearing mineral resources intended for export without the approval of the appropriate authorities.
One of the charges alleged that the defendants, alongside Gao Pei Yu, who is currently at large, conspired in 2025 to unlawfully export the mineral resources from Nigeria with the intent of defrauding the Federal Government of revenue accruing from the nation’s solid minerals sector.
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.”
Both defendants pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them.
Following their guilty pleas, prosecution counsel, H. U. Kofarnaisa, called the investigating officer, Matthew Orogwu, who reviewed the facts of the case and tendered documentary evidence before the court in support of the charges.
Kofarnaisa thereafter urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants in accordance with the provisions of the law.
In his judgment, Justice Aluko found the two defendants guilty on all five counts and sentenced each of them to five years’ imprisonment on each count, with an option of a ₦50 million fine covering all the counts.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of all the recovered mineral resources to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The conviction marks another milestone in the EFCC’s sustained crackdown on illegal mining and the unlawful exploitation of Nigeria’s solid mineral resources, offences that have continued to deprive the country of significant revenue and undermine regulatory oversight in the mining sector.
