Report: Chinese Miners Allegedly Financing Militant Groups in Nigeria

 A recent report by The Times, a British national daily, has revealed that some Chinese nationals working in Nigeria's mining sector may be funding terrorist groups in the country. The report suggests that through bribes and illegal transactions, China may be indirectly supporting terror in Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa.

 

According to the exclusive report, some Chinese nationals working as informal miners in Zamfara State serve as runners for militant groups in the region and other parts of northwestern Nigeria. These Chinese companies working in areas where attacks are frequent have reportedly struck security deals with insurgents. Attacks on Chinese citizens in Nigeria have become regular occurrences in recent years amid the country's many conflicts.

 

The report cites research from SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based analytical group, which has revealed videos on social media and WhatsApp of militant leaders boasting that they are so powerful that Chinese workers wishing to operate in their areas must pay them "rent". They have reportedly taken over swathes of northwest Nigeria, turning the region into the country's bloodiest conflict zone.

 

Furthermore, in one pocket of Zamfara State, researchers found that interaction with militants runs so deep that some serve as runners for Chinese miners who have spread throughout Nigeria, controlling digs for gold. Nigeria reportedly has some of the largest gold reserves in the world. These Chinese workers often operate informally in small groups as contractors registered to clearing-house companies, speaking local languages and living in remote areas for years at a time.

 

The Times report also suggests that Chinese mining contractors in Nigeria often pay a pittance to locals working on their fields and smuggle minerals out of the country illegally, leading to their arrest at times. In 2020, 27 miners, including 17 believed to be Chinese, were arrested in Osun State. Last October, a Chinese citizen, Gang Deng, 29, was jailed for five years after being found with 25 tonnes of a mineral thought to be lepidolite, containing lithium, which is used in batteries.

 

The SBM Intelligence research also found Chinese workers involved in the Boko Haram conflict in Nigeria's northeast, with a case of a Chinese smuggler being paid to help a jihadist group move metal ore out of the country. These findings suggest that Chinese nationals in Nigeria's mining sector may be supporting terror groups in the country, leading to concerns about the country's national security.