THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested and detained five suspected Chinese illegal miners in Ndito-Eka-Iba village, Ibieno Local Council of Akwa Ibom.
EFCC spokesperson, Mr. Dele Oyewale, said in a statement on Sunday, September 15, in Abuja, that the arrests were made by the Special Task Force on Illegal Mining at the Commission’s Zonal office in Uyo, following credible intelligence on foreign mining companies’ illicit activities in Eket and Ibieno Local Councils of the state.
He gave the identities of the five arrested Chinese suspects, who were apprehended between August 29 and September 10, as Zhon Qinping, Li Yi, Xie Bin, Chen Mou Zhou and Chen Zeng, adding: “They were arrested at an illegal mining site, where a mineral suspected to be ilmenite, a titanium-iron oxide mineral, was being extracted.
“The suspects will face charges in court once investigations are concluded.”
