45 Chinese nationals,comprising of 34 men and 11 women, were on Tuesday arrested by the officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Kano state, for their involvement in illegal textile trading.
The Kano state comptroller of immigration, Emmanuel Brisca Ifeadi, said those arrested on Tuesday had been trading illegally at Kantin Kwari textile market in Kano.
“The Chinese expatriates were found to be scavenging in the market, which is hurting the nation’s economy,” Mr Ifeadi said.
Local textile retail traders in Kano have for years complained that Chinese nationals were undercutting them.
The immigration official stated that immigration authorities have decided to rid the markets in Kano and Lagos, of people he called “economic saboteurs”.
Ifeadi said the same measure will be applied to immigrants of other nationalities found to be trading illegally.
He however, added foreign nationals who came to Nigeria to invest and create employment for Nigerians would be “welcomed and supported by the federal government”.
China is now Africa’s largest trading partner, surpassing the United States and its traditional European partners.