The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced the interception of a container loaded with 10,603 male donkey genitals along the Kaduna–Abuja Expressway.
The comptroller general of the service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja.
Adeniyi who was represented by the spokesman for the NCS, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, said the seizure was made following credible intelligence and coordinated surveillance by the customs special wildlife office (SWO) and the customs intelligence unit (CIU).
He further said the wild life genital haul took place on June 5, 2025 around 9pm.
Following due documentation, the consignment was handed over to the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), in line with inter-agency protocols and environmental laws.
Adeniyi clarified that the seizure was not an isolated case, saying the service had disrupted several major wildlife trafficking operations in the years gone by.
These included the recovery of six African Grey Parrots and the arrest of a suspect in Kano in December 2024; interception of live pangolins, mona monkeys, tantalus monkeys, a baby baboon, and an African grey parrot at the Lagos Airport in May 2025; seizure of 213 parrot heads, six eagle heads, and 128 hornbill heads in Cross River State; rescue of tortoises in Oyo State in January 2025; and recovery of 119.4kg of pangolin scales in Calabar, and 120 African grey parrots in Adamawa State.
Similarly, the SWO had between December 2024 and June 2025 intercepted 6,087.9 kg of Pangolin scales, 4.15 kg of worked ivory, 157 live African grey parrots, 20 green parrots, four live Senegal parrots, two budgies, six live monkeys, four live pangolins, 3,022 donkey skins, 37 taxidermies, 16 zebra skins, and 10,603 male donkey genitals.
The comptroller general reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to protecting endangered species and enforcing Nigeria’s obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
He emphasised that wildlife trafficking often intersects with organised crimes such as money laundering, arms smuggling, and illicit currency flows.
“This is a matter of national importance, not just ecological; it is part of a broader criminal economy we must dismantle,” he stated.
Adeniyi further said the NCS had deepened its collaboration with global and local organisations, including the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Focus Conservation, Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), INTERPOL, and Nigerian security agencies like the NDLEA, EFCC, and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
