Fw: Okopido's speech at swearing-in of wildlife crime commission

[Guest guest]

Apologies for mulitple list postings ... Jane

 

-

" Shirley McGreal " <spm

Cc: <jdewar

Friday, February 28, 2003 11:13 AM

Okopido's speech at swearing-in of wildlife crime commission

 

 

> Good news! Nigeria has just established a commission to investigate the

> illegal wildlife trade emanating from that country, including the " Taiping

> Four " gorilla shipment. The Commission members were sworn in on 27

> February. Shirley McGreal

>

>

>

> Opening address by Otu-ekong (Dr.) Imeh T. Okopido, Honourable Minister of

> Environment (State) on the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony of the

> Administrative Commission of Enquiry on the illegal trade/smuggling of

> endangered species of wild fauna and flora into and out of Nigeria, on

> Thursday, 27th February 2003, at the 9th floor conference room of the

> Federal Ministry of Environment.

>

> Protocols

>

> Nigeria signed and ratified the Convention on International Trade in

> Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) in 1974, and was among

> the founding members (Parties) to that Convention. In 1985, the Endangered

> Species (Control of International Trade and Traffic) Decree (now an Act of

> the National Assembly by virtue of the Nigerian Law Reform) was

promulgated

> to give municipal credence to the Convention in Nigeria. Our dear nation

> implemented and enforced the Convention until policy changes by a previous

> administration not only evicted the CITES enforcement staff from the

> nations ports/borders, but also transferred the CITES schedule of duties

to

> a non-implementing Agency. Since then, there have been increasing cases of

> illegal exportation and re-exportation of several species of wildlife from

> and through Nigeria.

>

> In the last two years however, the Federal Ministry of Environment and

some

> of Nigerias foreign missions had continually received hundreds of letters

> protesting the alleged involvement of our dear country in illicit trade of

> some critically endangered species of wildlife, contrary to our

obligations

> to the Convention. The CITES Secretariat in Switzerland was also

> justifiably concerned about the implication of Nigeria as the country of

> origin or of re-export in several cases of illegal shipments of wild

> animals to various countries of the world, and wrote several letters of

> inquiry to these effects. In addition, the CITES Secretariat sent some

> documents to the Management Authority of Nigeria for verification and

> investigation. Prominent among the numerous cases of illegal shipments are

> the following:

>

> (a) export of young gorilla to Qatar

>

> (b) export of young chimpanzees to Cairo, Egypt, which were callously

> drowned by Egyptian veterinarians in a vat of chemicals

>

> © export of 191 live royal pythons and dwarf crocodiles to the United

> States of America, but which were intercepted in the United Kingdom

>

> (d) export of four (4) young gorillas to Taiping, Malaysia, and

>

> (e) numerous exports of various species of parrots, particularly to the

> Middle East and Europe, particularly the African Grey Parrot.

>

> Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, you may also remember the celebrated

> case of a Nigerian who was jailed for illegal importation of several

> endangered species as bush-meat into the United Kingdom over a year ago.

In

> a reaction to the above and other reported cases, the Honourable Minister

> of Environment issued a press statement in which some unscrupulous

> Nigerians and their foreign collaborators were identified as the

> perpetrators of these crimes. The Minister also promised that an

> investigation would be conducted to unearth the culprits.

>

> As leader of the Nigerian Delegation to the twelfth meeting of the

> Conference of the Parties to CITES (COP-12) in Chile, in November 2002, I

> was utterly dismayed by the exposition of the extent of our nations

> involvement in the illegal trade in endangered species of wild animals.

The

> illegal trade is an embarrassment to our nation and is very damaging to

our

> country's external image.

>

> In a further exposition of the extent of illegal trade in endangered

> species, in December 2002, in company of the Director of SSS and Mobile

> Policemen in Kano State, found in a private setting, a captive den for

wild

> animals on the endangered list. This particular sordid deal had been on

for

> since 1995. Three gorillas were illegally bought by one John Paul Read and

> one died some years ago. My other intelligence-gathering efforts in Lagos

> and Kano also helped to fortify the Ministry's resolve to investigate this

> growing crime and restore Nigeria's credibility in the comity of nations.

> It is also sad to note that the University of Ibadan Zoological Garden has

> been used as an exist point for these endangered species. The zoo in Jos

> has recently been fingered too. I wish to announce that from today, the

> Ministry of Environment-CITES Enforcement Unit will deal very decisively

> with all forms of illegal trading on Endangered species of wild animals

and

> plants and we hereby prohibit all sales of bye-products of Endangered

> Species Origin, either as gift items or otherwise and...[section

> illegible]... Species of Wild Animals and Plants into and out of Nigeria.

> It is therefore my singular honour and privilege to inaugurate this

> important Commission of Inquiry which membership comprises highly esteemed

> Nigerians as follows:

>

> (i) Rt. Justice John U. Bassey - Chairman

>

> (ii) Professor Nurudeen O. Adedipe - Member

>

> (iii) Emeritus Professor David U. Okali - Member

>

> (iv) Chief (Dr.) Mathias Offoboche - Member

>

> (v) Alhaji Lawan Marguba - Member

>

> (vi) Professor Michael Olayiwola - Member

>

> (vii) Dr. Mukthar Aminu Kano - Member

>

> (viii) Mr. John Odey-Aduma - Member

>

> (ix) Dr. Augustine N. Okaeme - Member

>

> (x) Mr. M. A. Oyebo - Member

>

> (xi) Barrister Njar Nkang Abang - Member

>

> (xii) Mr. T. K. Kasali - Secretary

>

> The task before this Commission is an onerous one, as it has been charged

> with wide ranging responsibilities as contained in the Terms of Reference.

> Mr. President and indeed the entire nation earnestly look forward to a

> timely completion of this national assignment.

>

> Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much for being here

to

> witness this landmark occasion.

>

>