The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested 14 Chinese nationals and a Nigerian at four illegal lithium processing plants in the Ogere area of Ogun State.
The EFCC disclosed this in a statement posted on its X handle on Monday, saying the arrests followed intelligence gathering and surveillance by operatives of its Lagos Zonal Directorate 2.
According to the commission, the suspects were arrested on Friday, October 23, 2026, during an operation targeting the illegal facilities.
Items recovered during the operation included bags of lithium rocks, 18 mobile phones, four laptops, two decoders, a television remote control and a trailer truck.
The commission said the suspects would be charged in court after investigations had been concluded.
In a related development, the EFCC recently arraigned two lovers, Marian Elia, 19, and Izuchukwu Uzoma, 21, over the alleged theft of N35.92m belonging to Esther Ogbeifun in Benin, Edo State.
The defendants were arraigned on a seven-count charge bordering on cybercrime, conspiracy and stealing.
The commission alleged that Elia, who grew up in the victim’s house, had access to her phones and banking details, which she allegedly used to transfer the money into an account belonging to Uzoma, her boyfriend.
Meanwhile, in May, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency uncovered a Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine syndicate operating from a concealed laboratory in a forest in Ogun State.
Three Mexican chemists and several Nigerian suspects were arrested during coordinated raids in Ogun and Lagos states.
The NDLEA described the operation as the largest clandestine methamphetamine seizure in Nigeria’s history.