Chinese National, Gang Deng Bags 5 Years Imprisonment For Illegal Mining
On Wednesday, the Federal High Court in Ilorin found Chinese national Gang Deng, 29, guilty and sentenced him to five years in jail for offenses related to illegal mining and unlawful possession of minerals.
In a case brought by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Gang Deng, Justice Muhammed Sani found him guilty.
According to a statement made by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, the convict was apprehended along Tsaragi Road in Kwara State’s Share, Edu Local Government Area.
He was taken into custody by the commission’s Ilorin Zonal Command on Friday, September 9, 2022.
He allegedly had 25 tons of minerals that were thought to be lepidolite, a raw material used in the “manufacturing of batteries for vehicles, cell phones, cameras, and other electrical gadgets,” according to Uwujaren “.
Part of the statement read, “As previously mentioned, on August 30, 2022, agents of the EFCC, working with the Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, detained 13 alleged illegal miners who were allegedly working in Kakafu village in the Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State.
“Mining without license is a criminal offence under the law. It is an act of economic sabotage, punishable under Section 1 (8) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, which stipulates life imprisonment for offenders.
“The Chinese national who is the Managing Director of Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd confessed to the crime.
“Consequently, the Ilorin Command of the EFCC arraigned Gang Deng alongside his company Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd on one count amended charge before Justice Sani. When the charge was read to the defendant, he pleaded guilty, but entered a ‘not guilty plea’ for his company.”
The charge reads, “That you, Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd and Gang Deng, sometime in the Month of September 2022 at Share, along Tsaragi Road in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, without lawful authority purchased mineral to wit, 25 Tons of Mineral worth the sum of N2,490,000.00 (Two Million, Four Hundred and Ninety Thousand Naira) conveyed in a DAF Truck, with registered number KLRAD85XCOE603462 and thereby committed an Offence, contrary and punishable under Section 1 (8) (b) of Miscellaneous Offences Act 1984.”
Innocent Mbachie, the EFCC’s attorney, reviewed the case’s facts after the defendant entered a plea and offered documents, which were later allowed as evidence. He asked the jury to find the defendant guilty of all charges.
In rendering her decision, Justice Sani took into account the allocutus submitted by Gang’s attorney, who requested leniency on the grounds that the defendant was a first-time offender.
As a result, the court gave Gang a 5 year sentence with a N1 million fine option. The 25 tons of the mineral that were taken from him at the time of his detention, according to the judge, must now belong to the Nigerian government.
In order to hear the case of the convict’s company, Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd., the court then postponed the hearing until November 17, 2022.
