Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission attached to the Uyo Zonal Command have arrested five Chinese nationals for suspected illegal mining at Ndito-Eka-Iba village, in the Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

The EFCC?s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, disclosed this in a statement in Uyo, the state capital, on Sunday.

He noted that following an intelligence report, the suspects were arrested at the mining site while mining a mineral suspected to be ilmenite, a titanium-iron oxide, by the commission?s Special Task Force on August 29, 2024, and September 10, 2024, respectively.

Oyewale said the suspects ? Zhon Qinping, Li Yi, Xie Bin, Chen Zhou and Chen Zeng, would be charged in court upon completion of investigations.

?Operatives of the Uyo Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested five suspected illegal Chinese miners at Ndito-Eka-Iba village, in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

?The five alleged illegal miners were arrested by the Special Task Force on Illegal Mining at the commission?s zonal office in Uyo, following credible intelligence on the illegal activities of foreign mining companies within Eket and Ibeno Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State.

?They were all arrested at an illegal mining site of a mineral suspected to be ilmenite, a titanium-iron oxide mineral,? thestatementread. (The PUNCH)