By George OZALLA
The Nigeria Customs Service has made a significant seizure of a 40-foot container loaded with 10,603 donkey genitals along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway. According to Abdullahi Maiwada, National Public Relations Officer of the NCS, the interception was made possible through coordinated surveillance and intelligence gathering by officers of the Special Wildlife Office and Customs Intelligence Unit on June 5, 2025.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, represented by Maiwada, stated that this seizure highlights the growing involvement of transnational criminal networks in the trade of endangered species for illicit profits. Adeniyi emphasized that wildlife trafficking often intersects with organized crimes such as money laundering, arms smuggling, and illicit currency flows, making it a matter of national importance.
This seizure is not an isolated incident, as the NCS has been working tirelessly to disrupt wildlife trafficking networks. In recent months, the Service has made several notable seizures, including six African Grey Parrots in Kano, two live pangolins, five Mona monkeys, and an African Grey Parrot at Lagos Airport, 213 parrot heads, six eagle heads, and 128 hornbill heads in Cross River State, and 119.4kg of pangolin scales in Calabar.
The NCS has intensified its wildlife protection efforts by establishing the Special Wildlife Office under the Customs Intelligence Unit. The office is responsible for intelligence gathering, profiling, investigations, and coordinated enforcement targeting transnational criminal groups engaged in wildlife exploitation. The Service has also invested in digital surveillance, cross-border enforcement, and species identification to combat the menace.
The seized donkey genitals have been handed over to the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in line with the Service’s commitment to inter-agency collaboration and statutory mandates. The NCS urges the public, especially those in border communities and logistics hubs, to report suspicious movements of wildlife products.
