Operatives of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested two Chinese: Yang Chao, 39, and Xiao Jiang, 38, for suspected illegal mining activities.
They were arrested alongside Chidi Joseph Osuji, 48, suspected to be an accomplice in the illegal business.
Acting on intelligence, the suspects were trailed to their mining sites located at Ogunmakin and Ogere, Ogun State, where they were arrested after days of surveillance.
In a statement issued by the Commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, preliminary investigations showed that Chao and Chidi are working as factory managers and machine operators, respectively, with Cruis Chemical Nigeria Limited located at Ogunmakin in Ogun State, while Jiang works with John Odiba Multibiz as an assistant manager in Ogere, Ogun State.
The statement added that the suspects who operate as cartels allegedly specialise in the illegal mining of minerals such as marble stone, white powder, lithium, and lepidolite, among others, which they are transporting outside the country through illegitimate means for private gains.
According to the statement, investigations also linked the three suspects as owners of the solid minerals being conveyed by the 41 suspects arrested with truckloads of minerals at Share, Banni, Lade, Patigi, and Okolowo in Kwara, and Igbeti and Ogbomosho in Oyo state by operatives of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC on February 5, 2024. They were arrested for engaging in mining activities without the requisite licences.
In another vein, the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC has also arrested the trio of Sallah Asmau Wuraola, Owoduni Abdullahi Isa (a.k.a. Bolaji), who are Point of Sale, PoS cashiers, and one Shuaibu Rukayat, a nurse from Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State, for allegedly selling new naira notes of different denominations to customers for commercial purposes.
The arrest of the suspects followed credible intelligence on elements selling new naira notes to people at event centres, nightclubs, hotels, and parties without due authorization.
Wuraola and Rukayat were caught with the sum of N1,220,000 (one million, two hundred and twenty thousand Naira only), while Isa was arrested with the sum of N150,000 (one hundred and fifty thousand Naira only).
The suspects, according to the commission, would soon be charged in court.
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