Nigerian terrorism and China
Surprisingly, the departing Muhammadu Buhari administration has shown little interest in the claim that the People’s Republic of China is unwittingly supporting terrorists, particularly in the terror-torn North.
The Times, a newspaper located in the UK, released an exclusive report on April 15, 2023, saying that Chinese people were engaged in paying off various Jihadi terrorist organizations to get access to the mineral reserves in their held territory. Beijing may be indirectly supporting terrorism in the biggest economy in Africa, claims The Times.
In one area of Zamfara, researchers discovered that relationships with militants are so pervasive that some of them function as spies for Chinese miners who have colonized Nigeria and are in charge of gold digging there. The nation is home to some of the greatest gold deposits on earth. Twenty-seven miners were detained in Osun State in 2020, with 17 of them reportedly Chinese. After being discovered in possession of 25 tonnes of a mineral presumed to be lepidolite, which contains lithium and is used in batteries, a Chinese national was sentenced to five years in prison in October of last year.
The Chinese Embassy called the claim “baseless” and said it was based on “unverified, unclear, and unproven information.” It also urged its citizens and businesses to obey Nigerian law. Despite this refutation, it has been claimed that Chinese businesses are forcibly down trees in Enugu State to create charcoal that is trafficked into China. According to reports, it has also been destroying Ghanaian forests, mostly for rosewood exploitation. The economic piracy practiced by China in Africa is not a covert threat. Profiting on the enormous loans it has been providing to several impoverished nations, China has essentially taken over governmental control of those Third World nations that are unable to pay them back, most notably Sri Lanka. When the Zambian government presented several Chinese “reservists” dressed as senior members of the Zambian Police in 2020, it provoked anger.
Nigeria owes China roughly $696 billion in debt as of March 2023, making up 6.732 billion of that total. What about our own well-connected or high-placed rogue citizens who participate in illicit resource extraction, including crude oil theft, while we point accusing fingers at China, which is only taking advantage of an opportunity?
To be able to take use of these natural resources for the sake of our people, we need real patriots who can drive out these local pests and their foreign collaborators from our ungoverned regions. To block off ungoverned zones, we must restructure our security system. We continually call for real federalism and the devolution of additional authority because of this.
We think Nigeria has the natural and people resources to develop into a superpower. All we need to reestablish our territorial integrity is a trustworthy and patriotic leadership. This is a failing of the state that requires arrest.
