A fresh bill at the United States House of Representatives has proposed that the country’s secretary of state works with the Nigerian government to thwart “hostile foreign exploitation of Chinese illegal mining operations”.
The proposed legislation, titled: ‘Nigeria Religious Freedom
and Accountability Act of 2026’, was introduced by five Republican lawmakers on
Tuesday.
The congressmen who sponsored the bill are Chris Smith,
Riley Moore (bill author), Brian Mast, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Bill Huizenga.
The bill sponsors said illegal Chinese mining operations in
Nigeria engage in the “destabilizing practice of paying protection money to
Fulani militias”.
The bill also proposed that the US secretary of state should
consider “technical support to the Government of Nigeria to reduce and then
eliminate violence from armed Fulani militias”.
Clause 10 and 11 of the proposed legislation read as
follows:
“The Secretary of State should consider technical support to
the Government of Nigeria to reduce and then eliminate violence from armed
Fulani militias, including disarmament programs and comprehensive
counter-terrorism cooperation to rid the region of Foreign Terrorist
Organizations that pose a direct threat to the American homeland;
“The Secretary of State should work with the Government of
Nigeria to counteract the hostile foreign exploitation of Chinese illegal
mining operations and their destabilizing practice of paying protection money
to Fulani militias.”
The bill also stipulates that the US Department of State
enlist international partners like France, Hungary, and the United Kingdom to
work with the Nigerian government to promote religious freedom and peace.
The secretary of state is expected to determine whether
certain “Fulani-ethnic militias” in Nigeria qualify as “Foreign Terrorist
Organisation”.
In April 2023, a report published by The Times, a British
national daily, stated that Chinese nationals in the mining sector are funding
terrorist groups in parts of Nigeria to secure access to the country’s mineral
reserves.
The report said through bribes and illegal transactions,
“Beijing could be indirectly funding terror in Africa’s largest economy”.
The report detailed that some Chinese nationals, who have
worked informally as miners in Zamfara, serve as runners for some militant
groups in the state and in the north-west of the country.
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