The U.S. Congress has accused Chinese miners in Nigeria of financing Boko Haram and other terrorists in Nigeria under the pretext of paying “protection money” to carry out illegal mining operations.

Congressmen Riley Moore and Chris Smith made the allegations on Tuesday in a bill titled ‘Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026’, aimed at ending religious freedom violations in the West African nation.

According to the Republican representatives, the Chinese miners were exploiting Nigeria’s solid minerals, at the same time, compromising its national security by bankrolling the terrorists responsible for years of deadly attacks and economic disruption.

Messrs Moore and Smith recommended that the Nigerian authorities cooperate with secretary of state Marco Rubio on a countermeasure to block illegal mining operations and their funding.

“The secretary of state should work with the government of Nigeria to counteract the hostile foreign exploitation of Chinese illegal mining operations and their destabilising practice of paying protection money to Fulani militias,” said the lawmakers.

In the last three years, at least 20 Chinese nationals have been arrested and arraigned before multiple Nigerian courts over illegal mining activities.

Last year, EFCC posted mugshots of Zhang Hong Lin and Zhao Pei Hai, who were suspected of illegally mining and smuggling “mica products, copper-bearing and lithium-bearing mineral resources”.

The arraignment drew a sharp rebuke from the U.S. Mission in Nigeria, which said such illegal mining activities could disrupt the global supply chain for solid minerals and negatively impact the U.S.

Last December, the China Mining Federation of Nigeria issued a statement denying claims that Chinese companies were funding terrorists.

“The allegations that Chinese companies are fueling terrorism in Nigeria are completely unfounded,” the statement said.

The Chinese government has yet to react to the U.S. bill accusing Beijing of sponsoring terrorists.