Three consignments containing 140 species of snakes and 660 other animals imported into the country from Cameroon were on Wednesday, July 26 intercepted by the Nigeria Customs Service.
PUNCH reports the containers
were brought in aboard a Cameroonian vessel tagged ‘MV Flesh’ through the Calabar waterway to the National Inland Waterways Authority jetty in Calabar, Cross River State.
The other animals which were identified as geckos, millipedes, hairy frogs and spiders, were said to be worth N6.9m.
The smugglers and the boxes where the animals were kept
Customs Area Comptroller in charge of Calabar Free Trade Zone, Cross River and Akwa Ibom Command, Mrs. Nanbyen Burromvyat, said the consignments were intercepted by vigilant officers on July 24 on arrival at the NIWA jetty.
She said that the consignments, which were Lagos-bound, are prohibited items under the Schedule 3 of the Revised Import Prohibition List (Trade) in the Common External Tariff.
A packaging list for the items specifically identified the species of snakes to include Atheris squamigera, Bitis gobanica, Dasypeltis ssp, Boiga pulverinata, among others, while the geckos were Hemidactylus frenatus and Hemidactylus fasciatus.
The millipede, hairy frogs and spiders were of the Architreptulus ssp, Trichobatrachus robustus and Arachnidae ssp species respectively.
Without opening the containers for possible fear of escape, Burromvyat immediately handed over the items and the two suspects arrested to authorities of the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services for further investigations.
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