Emmanuel Udo Ifeadi, the immigration controller for the northern Nigerian city of Kano where the Chinese were held, described them as "economic scavengers".
Ifeadi said they were arrested at a textile market within the city for illegally engaging in trade and they would be soon deported.
Nigerian law bars foreigners from the retail trading of textiles.
The country's textile industry has crumbled due to import of textile materials and the government's inability to manage the situation.
In 2010, Nigeria had sought India's assistance to boost the country's ailing textile industry.
