THE GOLD THEY DIG, THE SILENCE THEY BUY: CHINA’S QUIET TAKEOVER OF IGBO SOIL
Why do some people think the problem is only Chinese nationals selling retail goods in our markets? That is the smallest part of a much larger problem. Retail trade is visible and easy to complain about. What is happening beneath our soil is far more serious, and far less discussed.
Chinese mining operations are active across our land in ways many of us have never stopped to examine, Ebonyi State included. I will not spend time on what is happening in the North, because that is a matter for the North to confront on its own terms. My concern is what is happening in Igbo land, and what is happening there is deeply troubling.
Chinese operators are colluding with some of our own people to fell trees on a scale few communities have fully reckoned with, timber that leaves our forests and is exported while the communities that once stood in its shade receive nothing in return. Reports reaching us indicate that Chinese operators are currently mining Otanjele out of Ebonyi State, moving trailer loads of it out quietly and consistently, generating revenue that never touches the hands of the people whose land it came from.
The pattern is familiar wherever this happens. An intermediary is found, someone who can secure an audience with the traditional ruler. A sum of money changes hands. Digging begins shortly after, often with little scrutiny from the wider community and even less from the state.
There are also reports, that uranium extraction is taking place in Akwa Ibom, with the communities sitting on this resource reportedly unaware of what is being taken from beneath them. If true, this would represent one of the most serious violations of resource sovereignty this region has faced. It deserves urgent investigation, not silence.
This is the quiet machinery behind what eventually reaches the rest of the world as inexpensive Chinese goods, resources extracted from African soil with minimal oversight, processed elsewhere, and sold back to us at a markup, while the land that gave them up sees no meaningful return. These are practices that would not be tolerated inside China’s own borders. They persist here because too few are positioned or willing to challenge them, and because some among our own leadership have become quiet accomplices in the arrangement rather than guardians against it.
This is precisely why the presence of a movement like IPOB matters. A people who cannot fully account for what is being taken from their own soil, under their own traditional authority, need structures capable of asking the questions their state governments have shown little interest in asking. Vigilance is not xenophobia, it is stewardship. Every community should know exactly what is happening on its land, who authorized it, and who is profiting from it. Where that information is missing, questions should follow, and they should not stop until answered.
Written by Ekere Ọrụ Eke
The Eagle Eye, 2026
Share widely via Elochukwu Ohagi
Dear Readers, Good and credible news reportage is tedious task and requires huge finances.
We are soliciting your Noble support for as low as N1,000 your support would go a long way in assisting us to continue to guarantee our readers quality news.
Bank transfers can be made to:
Account Name: Harvest and Commercial
Bank: Sterling Bank
Account Number: 0078627735