Nigeria who works with Turkey for a safe return of the smuggled child

The Federal Government said that he was working closely with the Turkish authorities relevant for the safe return of a child Gorilla in the street of extinction, which was intercepted at Istanbul, Turkey, 22 December 2024 airport.

It has been reported that the young Gorilla, who was reported that it was smuggling from Nigeria and in transit to Bangkok, Thailand, was discovered by the Turkish authorities during a routine inspection.

Wildlife traffic and in particular the extinction species is a criminal and illegal act that clearly violates national and international laws, including the agreement on international trade in particular in the process of extinction of fauna and wild flora (Cites).

The baby Gorilla is classified on the basis of the CITES appendix, as critically in danger, and any trade in this species is severely prohibited if not in exceptional circumstances for conservation or scientific.

To prevent these criminal acts, the police forces, including the federal ministry of the environment, the Nigerian agricultural quarantine service, among others, are leading an investigation to determine the origin of the attempt to smuggle and consider the managers responsible.

An acting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday’s Saturday of the spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa assured that the government of Nigeria would have improved surveillance at airports, maritime ports and nation’s boundaries to prevent future attempts and illegal wild wild fauna trafficking.

The federal government also praised the efforts of the Turkish authorities in the interception of this illegal trafficking and has directed the Embassy of Nigeria to Ankara to continue to interface with the host authorities to guarantee the safe return of the child Gorilla in Nigeria.

In the declaration, Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of species of wildlife in the street in line with global environmental treaties and would evolve the proactive methods to ensure that the authors of these illegal activities were satisfied with all the strength of the law.