The possibility that Beijing may be indirectly supporting terrorism in the biggest economy in Africa is raised by the fact that Chinese mining tycoons are paying militant organizations in Nigeria in order to gain access to the nation’s mineral resources.
The Times has learned that Chinese businesses operating in Nigerian regions where attacks are common have signed security agreements with rebels.
According to The Times, a leading British newspaper, Chinese miners are sponsoring terrorist organizations in some sections of Nigeria to gain access to the nation’s mineral resources.
The journal claimed in an exclusive article that “Beijing could be indirectly funding terror in Africa’s largest economy” through bribery and unlawful activities.
Attacks on Chinese citizens, of whom there are said to be between 100,000 and 200,000 in Nigeria, have become regular occurrences in recent years amid the country’s many conflicts.
Between 2019 and last year, 51 Chinese people are known to have been kidnapped and three killed. It is likely that many more incidents go unreported. The Chinese embassy in Abuja has now urged its citizens to “strengthen civil defence, physical defence
The report revealed that some Chinese nationals who have worked informally as miners in Zamfara serve as runners for some militant groups in the state and other north-western parts of the country.
“Research shared with The Times from SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based analytical group, 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 taken over swathes of northwest Nigeria, turning the region into the country’s bloodiest conflict zone.
“In one pocket of Zamfara, researchers found, interaction with militants runs so deep that some serve as runners for Chinese miners who have spread throughout Nigeria, controlling digs for gold. The country has some of the largest gold reserves in the world.
“Often operating informally in small groups as contractors registered to clearing-house companies, they speak local languages and can stay for years at a time living in remote areas that western companies consider off-limits.”
The Times also said Chinese mining contractors, who often pay a pittance to locals working on their fields, often smuggle minerals out of the country illegally and are sometimes arrested.
“Chinese mining contractors, who local communities have accused of abuses and paying pitiful wages, often smuggle minerals out of the country illegally and are sometimes arrested.
“In 2020, 27 miners, including 17 said 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.
“SBM 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.”
