Guest guest Posted December 16, 2002 Report Share Posted December 16, 2002 - " Shirley McGreal " <spm <primfocus Monday, December 16, 2002 9:50 AM primfocus: Another gorilla story > http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article10 > > Police hunt Lebanese, others for smuggling endangered species > > From Adamu Abuh, Kano > > THE men of the State Security Service (SSS) and other security personnel > are now on the trail of a Lebanese for allegedly masterminding the > exportation of chimpanzees and other prohibited animals out of the country. > > Also on the run some Nigerians who collude with the Lebanese to carry out > the nefarious act. > > Already, a youth corps member who is on the pay roll of the Lebanese is > helping security agents to ensure their arrest. > The Minister of State for Environment Ime Okopido told journalists that the > culprits risked being jailed for indulging in the criminal activities. > > The Lebanese, who is believed to be the mastermind of the smuggling of > about 300 pythons to Europe and other Asian countries, was caught with a > chimpanzee, and dozens of parrots, snakes and sundry animals. > > The commercial worth of each of the animals mainly used for zoological and > other research purposes in Europe and Asia is put at between $100,000 and > $500,000. > > According to the minister, the animals in possession of the Lebanese fall > under the category of endangered species and warned that the government > will not condone an attempt to smuggle them out of the country because this > is against the provision of the 1976 convention on international trade on > endangered species (CITES). > > He stated that anybody found smuggling any of the endangered species > prescribed by CITES convention would be punished in accordance with the > country's laws. > > Consequently, he noted: " All of them (the Lebanese and the Nigerians > arrested) are passing through the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission > (ICPC). There is nothing we can do under the convention to salvage our > image than to prosecute them based on what the law says " . > > The minister, who was the immediate past president of the African > Ministerial Conference on Environment, lamented the use of the country's > borders to carry out the nefarious activities, saying that this was further > denting the image of the country in the international communities. > > Noting that his ministry would strive to curtail the trend, which has the > potential of affecting the tourism sector negatively, he said that the > personnel of the department (CITES) would soon be drafted to support > security personnel in the country's borders. > > On the four baby gorillas smuggled out of the country to Taipei (Jane Dewar note: This should read TAIPING, Malaysia, not Taipei, China) recently, > he said they were of the Nigerian breed mainly found in the low land of > Cross River State. [iPPL Note - this could be a misquote as the Minister's > CITES press release called for DNA testing of the gorillas to determine > their species and zoo employees told the Associated Press they were from > Cameroon]. > > He, however, said the matter was of serious concern since the capture of > the four gorillas meant 60 member of the gorilla family would have been > killed out of the entire 200 of the species found in the country and > neighbouring Cameroun. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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