Chinese man bags 5 years imprisonment for illegal mining 

Published:

By Ismail Auwal

A Chinese national Gang Deng has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for illegal mining activities in Kwara State.

The 29-year-old Chinese was arrested by  The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on September 9, 2022 in Ilorin and found to be in possession was found to be in possession of 25 tons of crude minerals suspected to be lepidolite.

Lepidolite is a raw material usually transported to China for production of batteries for vehicles, cell phones, cameras and other electronic devices.

“A truckload of minerals suspected to be lepidolite was recovered from him,” the EFCC  said

As a result, the EFCC’s Ilorin Command presented Gang and Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd. in court on a single count of an amended accusation.

The defendant entered a “not guilty plea” for his company but pled guilty when the charge was read to him.

Counsel to the EFCC, Innocent Mbachie, urged the court to convict the defendant as charged.

The presiding Judge, Justice Sani took into consideration the allocutus made by Gang’s counsel, who pleaded for clemency on the grounds that the convict was a first-time offender and a responsible citizen.

Consequently, the court sentenced Gang to 5 years imprisonment with option of N1 million only.

The judge also ordered that the 25 tons of the mineral recovered from him at the point of arrest be forfeited to the federal government.

The court, thereafter, adjourned to November 17, 2022 for hearing in the case of the convict’s company, Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd.

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