20,000kg wildlife intercepted, 12 poachers convicted

The Special Wildlife Office of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said Thursday it intercepted over 20,000 kilogrammes of wildlife on the verge of being smuggled out of the country from poachers in less than two years.

This wass just as the service secured the conviction of no fewer than 12 people arrested in connection with the illegal wildlife trade.

This emerged yesterday at the second edition of the cooperation lunch meeting with Wildlife Justice Commission the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The session held in Lagos was titled: “Reviewing NCS’s Illegal Wildlife Cases for the Inclusion of Financial Investigation”. 

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The officer in charge, NCS Special Wildlife Office, Assistant Comptroller Abimbola Animashaun, stated that since the creation of the office, Nigeria had taken a centre stage in the fight against poaching and trafficking of endangered species.

She said, “In kilogrammes, we have seized over 20 tonnes, that is over 20,000 kilogrammes of wildlife and endangered species, and it is not just about the arrest, but the fact that we have been able to prosecute 12 cases successfully in the past years. 

“Coming from zero to 12 is a lot. Before 2021, we had zero prosecution from Nigeria, but now, we have 12 within the past one and a half to two years; that’s commendable.

“It’s a big, huge work that we have done. And it just goes to show that, you know, we are collaborating with other agencies in this fight because no agency can do it all by themselves. But then, without this effort that we have put into it, we probably won’t be here talking about achievements today. So it is a huge success.”

The Attachee of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Brian Geourgous, said the US government would continue to support customs through training, equipment and other areas of needs.

 “I think that the Nigerian Customs Service is doing a great job. We’re here to assist and to implement some training and some other areas where we feel we may be able to help NCS do a little bit better.”