Nigeria’s government has launched an investigation into the seizure by the Japanese Customs of about 7,100 kilogrammes of Pangolin Scales worth $450 million alleged to have originated from Nigeria.
According to a report by thisdaylive.com, the Minister of Environment Ibrahim Usman Jibril made this known in a statement issued by the Director of Press, Mr. Saghir el-Mohammed, while reacting to a media report on the seized items which are said to have an estimated market value of about $450 million, the second highest seizure of its kind.
He stressed that the source could not have been Nigeria as Pangolin were near extinction in the country, adding that Nigeria is being used as a transit route for illegal wildlife trade and “the image of our nation is being severed”.
According to him, “It was very unsettling when information was received that the Hong Kong Customs made the discovery in a container at the Tsing Yi Cargo Examination Compound, and mentioned Nigeria as the source.
“The ministry has initiated investigation of the reported illegal trade by communicating officially with the Hong Kong CITES Management Authority with a view of furnishing us with the documents that will be forwarded to INTERPOL for further investigation.”
The minister recalled that Nigeria signed and ratified the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1974 and to give municipal credence to this Convention, Nigeria promulgated the Endangered Species (Control of International Trade and Traffic) Decree No.11 in 1985 now enacted as Endangered Species Act 2016.
He emphasised that Pangolin is a highly protected and endangered specie and listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as well as on Schedule I of the National Endangered Species Act, 2016.
Jibril however observed that export of wild fauna and flora from Nigeria are covered by CITES Permit/Certificates.
He therefore reaffirmed the ministry’s role as the focal point of CITES implementation and its commitment to conserve wild species which he observed are now almost driven into extinction due to over exploitation, habitat change and illicit trafficking.
He stated: “CITES is the pre-eminent global legal instrument for regulating international trade in wild animals and plant. CITES objective is to ensure that international trade in wild fauna and flora does not compromise the protection of endangered species, hence the illegal trade in this species and its derivatives are absolutely prohibited.
“It is in view of the above that there has not been any case of illegal wildlife trade from Nigeria as a source country. However, globalisation allows and encourages international trade which traffickers have exploited and exposed us to some of these unwholesome practices which we frown on as a nation and defender of endangered species.”
Similarly, a report by atqnews.com stated that in 2016, an air shipment of ivory and pangolin scales worth $1.3 million from Nigeria was intercepted and the products seized by the authorities at the Changi Airfreight Centre in Singapore which described the deal as illegal. In a joint statement by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and Singapore Customs said they had been working closely to detect and intercept illegal shipments of wildlife and wildlife products through Singapore. The intercepted 0.8 tonne shipment originated from Lagos and was on its way to Vientiane, Laos via Singapore.
It was learnt that the shipment was labelled “complete wigs of synthetic textile materials”, but when Singapore Customs and AVA officers inspected it, they found 255 pieces of raw elephant tusks weighing about 505kg, and pangolin scales weighing about 324kg.
