Customs to Arraign Shipper of 40ft Container of Illegal Wildlife Products

Wale Igbintade

The Nigeria Customs Service has concluded arrangements for the arraignment of the shipper of 40ft container of illegal wildlife products intercepted and reported by Vietnam authorities in April 2024.

The suspect was arrested during a joint enforcement operation conducted by combined team of the Nigeria Customs Service-Special Wildlife Office and officers of Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone C on the 16th of May 2024, in the eastern part of Nigeria.

Barely six weeks after the news was reported in Vietnam, the team equally arrested a suspected supplier of ivory, in addition to the shipper.

A statement by the Officer in Charge of the NCS Special Wildlife office, Asst Comptroller Abimbola Isafiade, said
“apprehending these persons is to send 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.

“This is also to 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.

“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.

“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” In addition, she said, NCS will continue to follow the money to find all those who benefit from this crime”.