Nigeria charges three Chinese with illegal mining
Three Chinese nationals and their company, Lian Hua Quarry Nigeria Limited, have been arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria, over alleged illegal mining activities.
The defendants are Song Fei, Li Teng Fei, and Fei Shan. They have been charged with three counts of illegal mining between August 13, 2022, and February 18, 2023, under a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/177/2023. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is prosecuting the case, accusing the defendants of conspiracy, unlawful mining of minerals through quarrying, and carrying out quarrying operations without lawful authority. The NSCDC did not specify the mineral resources involved in the illegal mining.
Ruling
During the arraignment, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. The prosecuting lawyer, Alex Ojo, argued that the defendants were a flight risk and requested that they be remanded in the correctional center until the trial commences. On the other hand, the defendants’ lawyer, S.M. Nwosu, requested bail for his clients.
In her ruling, Judge Nkeonye Maha adjourned the hearing to Wednesday, May 31. She granted the defendants bail but ordered them to surrender their passports to the court registrar. The court also instructed the defendants to provide three sureties with landed properties within Abuja, and these sureties must submit their certificates of occupancy for their properties to the court. Until the bail conditions are fulfilled, the defendants will remain remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.
