By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The Nigeria Customs Service says it will continue to intercept all the endangered species for International trade and prosecute their traffickers in line with the recent laws, which impose up to 10 years and 12 million naira in fines for offenders.
The Comptroller of Customs in charge of zone D command, Bauchi Abdullahi Shuaibu Kaila, stated this while displaying the prohibited animals seized around the Adamawa- Taraba axis.
Maryamu Bala reports that the volume of items intercepted was as a result of the proactive measures taken by the patrol teams of the customs service to enforce laws prohibiting hunting, trafficking and trade of illegal items.
The intercepted items include 5 live pangolins, which are fully protected by the Nigeria Customs Act (1985 as amended in 2016) that cost over 1 million naira for a scale; 15,300 litres of Petroleum Motor Spirit, cartons of prohibited foreign soaps and a smuggled Mercedes-Benz car.
The Comptroller also said that while the pangolins would be handed over to Greenfinger Wildlife for safety, the service would continue to patrol the crimes, threatening biodiversity and the country’s reputation.
