Nigeria Customs Apprehends 3 Suspects for Wildlife Crime
From Our Correspondent
Nigeria Customs Service-Special Wildlife Office has arrested three (3) suspected persons and intercepted the shipper of the 40ft container of illegal Wildlife products barely 6weeks after reported by Vietnam authorities.
This is contained in a statement issued by officer in charge of the NCS Special Wildlife office: Assurant Comptroller, Abimbola Isafiade, stating that it was together with the gallant officers of Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone C in a joint enforcement Operation with the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC).
According to the statement, “on the 16th of May 2024, in the Eastern part of Nigeria, identified and apprehended the shipper of the 40ft container of illegal Wildlife products that was intercepted and reported by Vietnam authorities in April 2024.
The team equally arrested a suspected supplier of ivory (in addition to the shipper), noting that it’s a clear signal to other perpetrators of these illegal acts which are in contravention of the Customs export guidelines/ Nigeria Customs Service Act, and the Endangered Species Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that, wildlife trafficking, illegal wildlife trade and any form of Wildlife crime will not be condoned.
Assurant Comptroller, Abimbola Isafiade
reaffirm the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)’s commitment to support all global initiatives to fight Wildlife crime in all its forms, says, the Comptroller in charge of FOU Zone C: Comptroller Mike Ugbagu declared that Nigeria Customs Service will continue to follow the money to find all those who benefit from this crime.
Furthermore, the NCS and WJC partnership is strengthened and more determined than ever to dismantle the entire supply chain of illegal Wildlife criminal networks operating from Africa to Asia and the duo have set Gold standard.
According to the officer in charge of the NCS Special Wildlife office: Asst Comptroller Abimbola Isafiade, “the efficient and multi-focused response by NCS to the seizure in Vietnam demonstrates that it is not business as usual concerning the Nigeria-Vietnam trafficking corridor, and NCS’s success in apprehending both the shipper and supplier builds on the 3 years of successful arrests and prosecutions of key members of local and international IVORY trafficking networks”.
