The Special Wildlife Office of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said it has intercepted about 20,000 kilograms of illegal wildlife products and live specimens on the verge of being smuggled out of the country by criminals in the last 3 years

Speaking on Tuesday at the second edition of the Cooperation meeting between the service and the Wildlife Justice Commission, the Officer in charge, NCS Special Wildlife Office, Abimbola Isafiade, stated that her office has so far secured 12 convictions on illegal wildlife cases and still counting 

According to Abim, as she is fondly called, before now, the service recorded no prosecution on the arrest of Illegal Wildlife cases. However, since the creation of the office, Nigeria has taken center stage in the fight against wildlife crime and trafficking of endangered species.

She said: “In kilograms, we have seized about  20,000 kilograms of illegal wildlife products with live endangered species, and it is not just about the arrest but the fact that we are going ahead to prosecute these cases and have 12 convictions within three years with many cases pending before the court. From zero to 12 is remarkable and the best step in the right direction. Before 2021, we had zero convictions on Wildlife trafficking from Nigeria, but now, we have 12, which is commendable!

” It’s a  major shift, based on the commitment by NCS in developing the capacity of its officers. It is a huge investment which is yielding these visible results. 

“And it shows that we are committed to the global cause. Hence, we are collaborating with other agencies in this fight because no agency can do it alone. 

“Without all these efforts, we probably won’t be here talking about achievements today. So it is a huge success,” for which  NCS, particularly the management and prosecutors, should be commended.