Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A in Lagos, has arrested a Chinese, Mr. Ko Sin Ying, in connection with sacks of elephant tusks and pangolin shells valued at N493.5 million. The items were seized in an apartment at Ikeja. Its Comptroller, Mohammed Uba Garba, said yesterday that the 55 sacks of pangolin shells weighed 2001 kilogrammes and was valued at N408.32 million. He also explained that the 218 pieces of elephant tusks impounded at the apartment weighed 343 kilogrammes and was valued at N85.2 million. According to Garba, the export of such endangered species of animals like elephant and pangolin breaches international protocols and conventions.
Garba stressed that the items were evacuated from an apartment on No. 38, Ogundana Street, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja by the Customs’ warehouse operations team led by Assistant Comptroller Mutalib Sule. He disclosed that the team, acting on intelligence received, had mounted surveillance on the area and on tip-off, raided the apartment.
The comptroller noted that the gatekeeper of the house confirmed that the occupant, Mr. Ko Sin Ying, was a Chinese. He said: “The United Nations Charter on the preservation of endangered species entails that Customs administrations globally protect wildlife by intercepting illegal trade on such animals. “It further prevents the killings of endangered species since the tusks are only available after the killing of the elephant or pangolin.” Garba added that the items would be handed over to the Nigerian Environment Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA) for further investigations.
