By Sunday Ani
Chairman, League of Patriotic Lawyers, Abubakar Yesufu, has called on the Federal Government and the National Security Council to urgently check the influence of Chinese nationals on Nigerian youths.
He said they have little or no regard for the country’s laws or security agencies.
He cited recent viral videos showing Chinese individuals spraying Naira notes on police officers, an act of disrespect he insisted would never occur in China.
He further alleged that many of the foreign nationals evade taxes and some even lure Nigerian schoolchildren into illicit activities such as internet fraud, commonly referred to as ‘Yahoo Yahoo.’ According to him, over 600 Chinese nationals were recently implicated in internet fraud cases.
The League also accused the Chinese government of deliberately exporting ex-convicts and questionable individuals to Nigeria, where they allegedly corrupt Nigerian youths.
He expressed concern over the exploitation of Nigerian professionals, especially lawyers and accountants, by Chinese companies that often underpay or offer no adequate compensation.
He further claimed that 95 percent of Chinese employers in Nigeria do not adhere to the national minimum wage, subjecting their workers to what he called ‘modern-day slavery’ with meagre salaries and poor working conditions.
The League of Patriotic Lawyers stated that it is currently compiling a list of offending Chinese companies operating in Nigeria, which will soon be published.
Yesufu emphasised that his group would name and shame the worst offenders, advocating for sanctions against them.
“We can no longer pretend that all is well with our economy in the hands of these buccaneers from the Oriental world, pretending to be on a civilising mission. From Lagos to Enugu, from Ekiti to Sokoto, the stories of abuse and exploitation are the same, marked by woes and infamy,” he said.