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US lawmaker alleges illegal Chinese mining financing terror groups in Nigeria

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2 months ago

February 28, 2026

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A United States lawmaker, Riley Moore, has alleged that illegal rare earth mineral mining operations linked to China are fueling terrorist activities in Nigeria, worsening attacks on Christian communities in parts of the country.

Moore made the allegation during a live interview on Fox News, following the submission of his report earlier this week to Donald Trump. In the report, he detailed concerns about insecurity in Nigeria, particularly attacks targeting Christian communities.

According to Moore, while much of the international coverage has focused on religious violence, a critical economic dimension of the crisis has been largely overlooked.

“One key point that has been missing from much of the coverage is that the Chinese are running illegal rare earth mineral mining operations in Nigeria,” Moore stated.

He further alleged that proceeds from the illegal mining activities are being used to bankroll extremist groups operating in the region.

“They are paying protection money to radical Islamic terrorists who use that money to finance their operations to persecute and kill our brothers and sisters in Christ. This cannot continue,” he added.

Rare earth minerals are strategic resources used in the production of high-tech equipment, including defence systems, electronics and renewable energy technologies. Nigeria is believed to possess commercially viable deposits of such minerals, a development that has attracted increasing foreign interest in recent years.

Moore’s claims, if substantiated, could have far-reaching geopolitical and security implications, particularly amid intensifying global competition over critical mineral resources and rising concerns about insurgency and banditry in parts of northern Nigeria.

World

Trump says ‘not a big fan’ of Pope Leo after his anti-war message

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23 hours ago

April 13, 2026

Top News Nigeria

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US President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he is “not a big fan” of Pope Leo XIV, after the global leader of Catholics made a plea for peace.

“I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

He accused the pontiff of “toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon.”

On Saturday, the 70-year-old American pope publicly implored leaders to end the violence, telling worshippers at St. Peter’s Basilica: “Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”

US President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he is “not a big fan” of Pope Leo XIV, after the global leader of Catholics made a plea for peace.

“I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

He accused the pontiff of “toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon.”

US President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he is “not a big fan” of Pope Leo XIV, after the global leader of Catholics made a plea for peace.

“I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

He accused the pontiff of “toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon.”

Trump reiterated his comments to reporters with a post on Truth Social saying: “I don’t want a Pope who think it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

Washington and the Vatican have recently denied reports of a rift.

On Friday, a Vatican official denied reports that a top Pentagon official gave the church’s envoy to the United States a “bitter lecture” over Pope Leo’s criticisms of the Trump administration.

The military official reportedly told the cardinal that the United States “has the military power to do whatever it wants — and that the Church had better take its side.”

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement, “The account presented by certain media outlets regarding this meeting does not correspond to the truth in any way.”

While both parties insist the meeting was cordial, the Holy See and the White House have openly been at odds over the Trump administration’s hardline mass deportation campaign — which the pope called “inhuman” — and the use of military force in the Middle East and Venezuela.

When Trump made genocidal threats against Iran on Tuesday, saying “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again” — the pontiff slammed the “truly unacceptable” statement and urged parties to “come back to the table” for negotiations.

Earlier this month, Pope Leo hailed the news of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran as a “sign of real hope.”

But peace talks between the United States and Iran, held in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, ended abruptly Saturday with US Vice President JD Vance telling reporters after a marathon session of talks that Washington has delivered its “final and best offer.”

World

China rejects claims of supplying weapons to Iran

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23 hours ago

April 13, 2026

Top News Nigeria

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China on Monday called reports it had supplied or intended to supply weapons to Iran “baseless smears”, after several outlets quoted US intelligence sources to that effect.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump threatened Beijing with a “staggering” new tariff of 50 percent if it were to provide military assistance to Tehran.

His comments came the same day US outlet CNN reported that US intelligence indicated China was preparing to deliver new air defence systems to Iran within the next few weeks, citing three people familiar with the assessments.

Over the weekend, The New York Times quoted US officials as saying US intelligence suggested Beijing might have already sent a shipment of shoulder-fired missiles.

China denied the reports, saying Monday it had “always adopted a cautious and responsible attitude towards the export of military items, implementing strict controls in accordance with its own export control laws and regulations and its international obligations”.

“We oppose baseless smears or malicious association,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular news briefing.

China is a key economic partner of Iran — it buys most of the Middle Eastern country’s oil.

The countries have no formal military pact, though, and many analysts say Beijing largely sees the relationship between the two as transactional.

China also has strong economic ties to the Gulf countries and has criticised Iran’s attacks on them over the course of the war.

World

Former Iranian foreign minister dies from attack wounds

Published

4 days ago

April 10, 2026

Top News Nigeria

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A former Iranian foreign minister, Kamal Kharazi, died Thursday from wounds suffered in US-Israel strikes on April 1, Iranian media reported.

Kharazi, 81, had been serving as the head of the Strategic Council for International Relations, which is part of the foreign ministry.

The veteran diplomat, “who was injured in a terrorist attack carried out by the American-Zionist enemy a few days ago, died a martyr tonight”, the Mehr and Isna agencies reported on Telegram.

His wife was killed in the strike on their home in Tehran, media reported.

Kharazi was Iran’s envoy at the United Nations in New York and then became foreign minister from 1997 to 2005, under reformist president Mohammad Khatami.

Spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a number of top military and political figures have been killed in strikes since the Middle East war started with US-Israeli attacks on February 28.

AFP