Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court, Ilorin, on Friday, March 7, 2025, convicted and sentenced two Chinese nationals, Yang Chao and Wu Shan Chuan, for engaging in illegal mining of solid minerals in Kwara State. The defendants were convicted alongside their company, Crius Chemical Nigeria Limited.
The defendants were prosecuted on a one-count charge of dealing in solid minerals without lawful authority. 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 offence contrary to and punishable under Section 134(b) of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007.”
Upon reading the charge, the defendants pleaded guilty. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel, Sesan Ola, presented the facts of the case through a witness, an operative of the Commission. The witness tendered the defendants’ extra-judicial statements, a report from the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency, and the defendants’ passports, all of which were admitted as evidence.
Justice Awogboro, satisfied that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, found the defendants guilty. The court sentenced Yang Chao and Wu Shan Chuan to two years’ imprisonment each, with an option to pay a fine of ₦1 million each. The company, Crius Chemical Nigeria Limited, was also fined ₦1 million.
Additionally, the court ordered the convicts to pay ₦14 million in royalties to the federal government. All solid minerals discovered at the company’s premises, located at No. 1, Idi Ope Road, along Ogunmakin-Odede Road, Omi, Ogun State, were forfeited to the federal government.
