EFCC DETAINS SEVEN CHINESE NATIONALS AND FOUR NIGERIANS FOR UNLAWFUL ILMENITE EXTRACTION

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BY JEN NOMAMIUKOR

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained eleven individuals, including seven nationals from China, on charges of unlawful extraction of ilmenite in Akwa Ibom State.

Dele Oyewale, the Head of Media and Publicity at the EFCC, announced yesterday that officials from the Uyo Zonal Directorate of the anti-corruption organization apprehended the suspects last Thursday at Emem-Asuk, situated in the Eastern Obolo Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

Oyewale said, “The Chinese suspects are Yang Chaobao, 32, Zhong Dun Yi , 33, Cheng Jiang , 35, Zhong Dun Long , 37, Pan Peiming , 33, Lai Yiping, 37 and Zhu Lekun, 35.

“Their Nigerian accomplices are: David Israel, 18, Jonah Bartholomew Jim , 24, Samuel Samuel Timothy, 20, and a female translator named Comfort Gabriel Ajaga , 23.

“They are operating in the Eastern Obolo area, where they were arrested whilst setting up mining equipment at a second location. They were already engaged in the illegal activities at their first location, mining ilmenite, locally called black sand.”

The only female among the suspects said her only connection to the illegal miners was her proficiency in speaking Mandarin, a widely spoken language in China.

“I am a student studying Chinese language at a Learning Centre in Anambra State and I only work with them as a translator”, she said.

“The suspects will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation”, Oyewale further stated.