The Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of two Chinese nationals, Zhang Hong Lin and Gao Pei Hai, over offences bordering on illegal mining and the attempted export of Nigeria’s solid mineral resources.

The convictions were delivered by Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, after the defendants pleaded guilty to a five-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful possession and exportation of solid minerals without the approval of the appropriate authorities.

According to the EFCC, the defendants, alongside one Gao Pei Yu, who remains at large, were accused of conspiring in 2025 to illegally export valuable mineral resources, including mica products, copper-bearing minerals and lithium-bearing minerals, with the intention of depriving the Federal Government of revenue.

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, 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.”
Both defendants admitted to the offences when the charges were read to them.

Following their guilty pleas, prosecution counsel, H.U. Kofarnaisa, called the Commission’s investigating officer, Matthew Orogwu, who presented the facts of the case and tendered documentary evidence linking the defendants to the illegal activities.

After reviewing the evidence, the prosecution urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants in accordance with the law.

In his judgment, 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, with an option of a ₦50 million fine covering all the counts.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of all mineral resources recovered during the investigation to the Federal Government of Nigeria.