Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced two Chinese Zhang Hong Lin and Gao Pei Hai, for conspiracy and the illegal mining of solid minerals.The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned thedefendants on a five-count charge, which included conspiracy and the unlawful possession of mineral resources intended for export without lawful authority.The defendants pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them.Following their guilty pleas, prosecution counsel, Hannatu Kofarnaisa called the investigating officer, Matthew Orogwu, who reviewed the facts of the case and tendered documentary evidence before the court.After presenting the evidence, the EFCC’s counsel urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants in line with the charges.In his judgment, Justice Aluko found both 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 five counts.The court also ordered the forfeiture of the recovered mineral resources to the Federal Government of Nigeria.One of the charges reads: “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, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 1(8)(a) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1983, and punishable under Section 8 of the same Act.”
