Two Chinese nationals, Yang Chao and Wu Shan Chuan, were sentenced to prison in Kwara State for engaging in illegal mining.

The conviction was delivered by Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Ilorin on Friday, March 7, 2025.

The development was revealed in a statement signed by Dele Oyewale, Head of Media and Publicity at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The two individuals were convicted alongside their company, Crius Chemical Nigeria Limited.

They were prosecuted on a one-count charge of dealing in solid minerals without lawful authority.

The charge reads: “That you, Yang Chao, Wu Shan Chuan, and Crius Chemical Nigeria Limited, sometime in March 2024, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, engaged in dealing with minerals without lawful authority, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 134(b) of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007.”

The EFCC counsel, Sesan Ola, subsequently reviewed the facts of the case through a witness, “an operative of the Commission, who presented the defendants’ extra-judicial statements, a report from the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency, and the defendants’ passports as evidence—all of which were admitted by the court.”

Satisfied that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, Justice Awogboro “found the defendants guilty and sentenced them to two years imprisonment each, with an option of a N1 million fine. The same fine was imposed on Crius Chemical Nigeria Limited.”

“Additionally, the convicts were ordered to pay “N14 million in royalties to the Federal Government.”

“All solid minerals discovered at the company’s premises, located at No. 1, Idi Ope Road, along Ogunmakin-Odede Road, Omi, Ogun State, were forfeited to the Federal Government,” the statement concluded.

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