The bill that seeks to preserve and protect endangered species from extinction and trade passed the first reading in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The bill, prepared by Nigeria’s Ministry of Environment and jointly sponsored by Johnson Oghuma and Sam Onuigbo, seeks to create a legal framework that will make Nigeria comply with international conventions on endangered species, organized crime and corruption.
It also seeks to increase investigative powers to include financial inquiries and intelligence-led operations.
The bill, if enacted, would make it an offense to destroy the critical habitat of an endangered species.
According to the sponsor of the bill, it will further provide to increase the penalty to reflect the seriousness of the crime and the impact on endangered species, expand the court’s ability to speed up wildlife cases and recover assets, create corporate responsibility and support international cooperation.
Mr. Oghuma, who chairs the environmental committee, said: “The rate at which some species of fauna and flora are being killed is a frightening measure. Every day, more species are threatened with extinction and are on the brink of extinction.
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“Just as humans have the right to live, so do plants and animals,” said Mr Oghuma.
“We [Nigeria] therefore, it must do everything in its power to ensure sustainability. It is time to act to stop environmental degradation and protect our wildlife and plants globally and Nigeria cannot be the last.
In the last decade, African Natural Investors Foundation (ANI), the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Wild Africa Fund have been actively supporting the upscale efforts of the Nigerian Government to combat illegal wildlife trade.
This is done through the support of the UK Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund and the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
Commenting on the bill, the Executive Director of ANI, Tunde Morakinyo, described the bill as “an important thing” for Nigeria, adding that the world is watching.
He said: “Let’s be honest and show the world how we can be leaders in Africa to fight the illegal wildlife trade.”
“We salute the politicians for paying close attention to the elections. They know the importance of this for Nigeria,” Mr. Morakinyo added.
Additionally, EIA Executive Director Mary Rice said: “This comprehensive legislation is state-of-the-art and a game-changer.”
“Working together with our partners, the EIA sees this as a key step to combat human trafficking and protect critically endangered wildlife in Nigeria and across Africa. We hope it can be adopted quickly to address the current crisis,” he said.
On his part, the CEO of Wild Africa Fund, Peter Knights, said that Nigeria has become the center of illegal trade in ivory and pangolin scales.
“If passed, this bill will give the authorities a legal tool to close down the trafficking – border agencies have made huge seizures but have struggled to prosecute and pursue international criminals because of the previous legal ground,” he added.
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