The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it has confiscated consignments of donkey bones and dried donkey meat worth billions of naira.
The Comptroller of the the Federal Operations Unit, Zone B, Ahmadu Shuaibu disclosed this on Tuesday at a press conference at its headquarters in Kaduna.
He said other illegal products intercepted by operatives include, illicit drugs, smuggled consumables, second-hand clothing, and various chemicals.
Four suspects are in custody.
“Of great importance is the interception of the illegal products of donkey perpetrated by some unscrupulous elements with no regard for the lives and preservation of endangered species like the donkey which is near extinction,” Shuaibu said
He disclosed further that his men had “impounded consignments of donkey bones and dried donkey meat, respectively, with a combined Duty Paid Value (DPV) of about N3 billion on two separate occasions.”
He stressed that the government is concerned that donkeys are part of rare animals being driven towards extinction by activities of unscrupulous elements.
He added that Nigeria is a signatory to the international convention for the continued prevention of endangering these species. “Therefore, the Unit and indeed the Nigeria Customs Service will not and cannot fold its hand and allow this illegal trade to continue.”
58,740 sachets of tramadol and 48,000 ampules of Anelgin injection worth N167.5 million, suspected to be for bandits in Kaduna state were also impounded.
Shuaibu said the drugs were intercepted on May 2, along the Saminaka/Nimbiya/Kafanchan axis of Kaduna state.
The Comptroller reiterated that “officers and men of the unit are focused, committed and prepared to continue to carry out their assignments with utmost sense of courtesy and unwavering professionalism.”
“The era of exclusively mounting checkpoint is long gone, as our Enforcement Unit are up to date in the deployment of ICT assisted intelligence gathering and strategies to achieve our mandate” he affirmed