Nigeria now major hub for illegal wildlife trade – UN

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Nigeria has become a major transit hub for the illegal wildlife trade.

UNODC Chief Officer, Mr. Danilo Campisi, made the announcement on Friday at the launch of the Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) in Abuja.

“Wildlife and forest crime is a serious and growing problem. Nigeria has recently become a major transit point for the trade in illegal wildlife products, including pangolin scales, ivory and other protected species from East and Central Africa.

“These products enter the country through porous land borders and utilise Nigeria’s advanced maritime and airport infrastructure,” he said.

The ICCWC Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit enables you to make a comprehensive assessment of a country’s preventive, enforcement, prosecution and judicial responses to wildlife and forest crime.

Data systems, processes and wildlife demand are examined, identifying strengths and gaps in the current response.

The Toolkit also provides short- and long-term recommendations to address key challenges, providing authorities and the ICCWC with evidence to improve national responses to wildlife and forest crime.

The report makes 33 recommendations to strengthen the wildlife criminal justice system in Nigeria.

Key recommendations include supporting the Endangered Species Protection and Conservation Bill 2024, scaling up joint wildlife investigations through a Joint Investigations Team and establishing a wildlife crime unit within the Directorate of Public Prosecutions of the Federation.

It also recommended enhancing capacity building in wildlife forensics and providing operational and technical tools and skills to frontline law enforcement authorities.

Campisi stressed the urgency of implementing the Toolkit’s recommendations, citing key data and research trends.

The 2023 Organised Crime Threat Assessment for Nigeria and the 2024 World Wildlife Crime Report both highlight the serious decline in rosewood supplies in Nigeria. They argue that the CITES ban on rosewood exports may have come just in time to prevent the species from becoming extinct.

To address these challenges, in 2019 the Nigerian government requested the ICCWC for support in implementing the Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit and the ICCWC Indicator Framework for Combating Wildlife and Forest Crime.

Nigerian Environment Minister Balarabe Abass Lawal, in his speech at the event, lamented that the country is witnessing an alarming increase in wildlife crime.

“These crimes not only threaten our environment, but also undermine the rule of law, fuel corruption, and deprive communities of their livelihoods. They also undermine public health and national security,” the minister said.

He noted that while Nigeria has taken several proactive steps to combat wildlife crime, much more needs to be done as wildlife crime is a complex, transboundary problem that requires a multifaceted approach.

He reiterated the Nigerian government’s commitment to implement the recommendations in collaboration with international and domestic stakeholders.