Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) has given a boost to the ongoing war by the Nigerian government on wildlife trafficking in the country by donating wildlife monitoring and enforcement equipment to the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).
Director General of NESREA, Prof. Aliyu Jauro, while receiving the equipment yesterday in Abuja noted that the sophisticated methods being adopted by traffickers, equally require modern tools in tracking and arresting wildlife criminals.
He said the provision of real time equipment by UNODC would greatly enhance wildlife monitoring, investigation, intelligence gathering, enforcement, evidence collection, data generation, data management and transmission.
Jauro assured that the country was taking all the necessary steps to rid the country of wildlife crimes, adding that the recent destruction of seized wildlife stockpiles was intended to discourage perpetrators of the crime and also sends out the signal that the country would not tolerate any form of wildlife crime on its soil.
The DG also revealed that Nigeria had put in place the necessary checks at the border posts in the bid to frustrate the activities of those who seek to use the country as a transit hub for illegal shipment of controlled wildlife and their products.
The NESREA boss expressed appreciation to the UNODC while adding that the gadgets would be deployed to the zonal and state field offices of the agency, particularly those that have been identified as hotspots for traffickers.
The Programme Officer for the UNODC, Folusho Adeleke commended the efforts of the Nigerian government in reducing the rate of wildlife crime in Nigeria, stating that NESREA as the CITES enforcement authority would continue to receive the support it needs to achieve its mandate.
The equipment donated to the agency include, GPS trackers, digital binoculars, digital video camera, laptops and desktops, weighing scales, walkie –talkies, foot wears, magnifying lens, digital camera binoculars, callipers, among others.
