Five Chinese nationals were detained at Ndito-Eka-Iba village in Akwa Ibom State’s Ibeno Local Government Area by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) agents attached to the Uyo Zonal Command for alleged illicit mining.
Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, announced this in a statement in Uyo, the state capital, on Sunday.
He stated that the commission’s Special Task Force apprehended the suspects on August 29 and September 10, 2024, while mining a mineral presumed to be ilmenite, a titanium-iron oxide, in response to an intelligence report.
According to Oyewale, the suspects—Zhon Qinping, Li Yi, Xie Bin, Chen Zhou, and Chen Zeng—will face charges in court once the investigations are completed.
“Operatives of the Uyo Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC have arrested five suspected illegal Chinese miners at Ndito-Eka-Iba village, in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
“The five alleged illegal miners were arrested by the Special Task Force on Illegal Mining at the commission’s zonal office in Uyo, following credible intelligence on the illegal activities of foreign mining companies within Eket and Ibeno Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State.
“They were all arrested at an illegal mining site of a mineral suspected to be ilmenite, a titanium-iron oxide mineral,” the statement read.
