104 Snakes, Millipedes, Spiders, Others Were Bound for Luxemburg, Says FG

The Federal Government has disclosed that about 104 snakes of different species, gecko, lizards, millipedes, centipedes, spiders and hairy frogs impounded by officers and men of the Nigeria customs services were meant for Luxemburg as their final destination.

The animals which were smuggled into Nigeria from Cameroon, in three professionally packaged wooden boxes, were intercepted on July 24, this year at the Nigeria Inland Waterways (NIWA) jetty Calabar, by the Nigeria Customs Service, and handed over to the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), which also reported to the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Initial report had indicated that the impounded animals were bound for Lagos, Nigeria, but the Minister of Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Usman Jibril, on Friday in Calabar, where his ministry handed over the species to the University of Uyo (Uniuyo), for keeps, disclosed that from the inscription on the boxes, it was clear that the animals were being smuggled through Nigeria to Luxemburg in Europe.

Speaking with journalists after the boxes were opened and examined, under the guide of experts in forestry and wildlife, from various government agencies, and the university, the Jubril said the ministry officials were in Calabar having received reports that some unscrupulous elements smuggled some reptiles into the country.

Jubril said if not for the vigilance of the Nigerian Customs Service men the smugglers would have succeeded.

“These are wild lives that are normally bounded by SATIS Regulation. They knew certainly that they would not be able to get SATIS Permits, either in Cameroon or Nigeria.

So, when we got the report, we had to come to see things for ourselves. We can see that there are three boxes, and they were targeted to be exported to Luxemburg. It was a profession job; the way they pack the species,” Jubril said.

The minister said the species have been handed over to the University of Uyo, and that it was the hope of the ministry of environment that very soon the full report concerning the smuggled animals will be made available to Nigerians.

He stated that a lot was being done to ensure that Nigeria did not become a transit route for illicit trade in exotic species.

“The federal government is already doing something. It has done something. If it has not done anything, the customs wouldn’t have arrested them. So, the fact that they were arrested, and they did not go through means that something serious is happening,” he said.