Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin has convicted and sentenced two Chinese, Yang Chao and Wu Shan Chuan to prison for illegal mining of solid minerals in Kwara State.
This was contained in a statement released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in its X handle on Monday.
The two were convicted alongside their company, Crius Chemical Nigeria Limited, and prosecuted on a one-count charge, in connection to dealing with illegal solid minerals mining.
The charge reads: “That you, Yang Chao, Wu Shan Chuan, and Crius Chemical Nigeria Limited, sometime in March 2024, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, engaged in dealing with minerals without lawful authority, thereby committing an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 134(b) of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007.”
However, they pleaded “guilty” when it was read to them, but the EFCC counsel, Sesan Ola, reviewed the facts of the case through a witness who is an operative of the Commission.
Ola tendered the defendants’ extra-judicial statements, a report from the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency, and the defendants’ passports, all of which were admitted in evidence.
Justice Awogboro, after being satisfied that the evidence submitted proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, found the defendants guilty, convicted and sentenced them to two years imprisonment each or to pay N1 million fines respectively. The N1 million fine was also extended to the company.
Moreover, as an addition to their sentences, the convicts are to remit the sum of 14 million naira in royalties to the federal government while all solid minerals found in the premises of the company, located at No. 1, Idi Ope Road, along Ogunmakin-Odede Road, Omi, Ogun State, are forfeited to the federal government.
