According to a report published on Saturday by British daily newspaper, The Times UK, Chinese mining bosses are funding Nigerian militant groups in order to secure access to the country’s mineral reserves.
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Sparking speculation that Beijing could be indirectly funding terror in Africa’s largest economy, the report disclosed that Research 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.
The report claims Chinese companies working in parts of Nigeria where attacks are frequent have been striking security deals with insurgents, The Times reported.
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.
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.
In one pocket of Zamfara State, 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.
Alicia Kearns, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs select committee and the China Research Group of MPs, said reports of Chinese companies funding militant groups were “deeply concerning”.
She called on the British government to assist Nigeria in “strengthening regulatory oversight and governance of Chinese companies in the sector”.
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