Naomi Gabriel —
The Director, Environmental Quality Control of National Environmental Standard and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Mr Ayuba Jacob, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday said the agency seized a lion (cub) and arrested two men for alleged illegal trading in Abuja, the Nigerian capital
In an interview which contains the agency’s actions against illegal wildlife traders, also had Jacob saying that the act (illegal wildlife trading) was criminal. He also warned that NESREA would continue to apprehend those involved in such act.
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According to him, the cub lion is one of the endangered species prohibited for trading, both locally and internationally, as stated in the Endangered Species Act.
“It is the mandate of the agency to enforce these provisions and the purpose of the enforcement is to protect animal species, especially those that are endangered, to prevent them from going into extinction, he said.
“This is an international criminal offence. There is no excuse in law; the offenders are going to be charged to court.
“We are making effort to ensure that Nigeria is not disgraced before the international community, not only in this particular animal specie, but other endangered species,” he said.
Jacob while further stating that the agency was committed to creating strong awareness on enforcement of regulations, added that a list of endangered animals was always made available during awareness campaigns.
”We are using the media to create awareness regularly all over the country and this is to ensure effectiveness of the awareness.
“We normally educate people, especially hunters, on the fact that there are some animals that need to be conserved for sustainable development.
“Such animals are going in great extinct; we are not seeing them again; they have been taken away; so they are being conserved,” he said.
“We ensure that we list such animals to the hunters. And it’s not only animals; even some trees, such as Iroko, Mahogany and others. We call the wildlife species,’’ he noted.
The director further appreciated the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force and the staffers of National Park Service for making it possible for the seizure of the cub and the arrest of the suspected traffickers and added that the agency would continue to work with other relevant agencies to ensure that those engaging in the act were apprehended.
The cub lion had been handed over to the national park service by NESREA.
Nigeria is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
