The Nigeria Customs Service, Kano/Jigawa Command, has recorded a major breakthrough with the arrest and confiscation of pangolin scales worth millions of naira, which were smuggled into the ancient city of Kano.
Displaying the seized wildlife product—420 kilograms of pangolin scales—at the Customs Command office in Kano on Thursday, the Area Controller, Abubakar Dalhatu, stated that the operation was successful due to strategic intelligence networking.
The Area Controller noted that the seized wildlife product violates national laws, adding that Customs has classified such items, along with certain plant species, as prohibited. He warned that anyone caught with such items would face seizure and prosecution.
“Our intelligence units, together with the Police Department of the Customs and the Wildlife Protection Office, intercepted the pangolin scales in the metropolitan city of Kano. The items were being smuggled, and we are still tracking those behind the act. I promise that we will get to the root of whoever is involved,” he stated.
Controller Abubakar explained that pangolins and various plant species are rapidly disappearing from the earth, making it imperative to act decisively to protect them from extinction.
“Let me issue a word of warning: we will not relent in the fight against the killing and removal of animals that are not consumed or sold for legal purposes in the market. In the case of pangolins, they are killed only for their scales, as no one eats their meat,” he said.
The Controller declined to disclose the actual financial value of the seized scales, citing restrictions under the chartered protocols.
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