Ibaka (Akwa-Ibom), May 4, 2025 – The Navy Forward Operating Base (FOB), Ibaka, Akwa Ibom State, has arrested two suspects trafficking 500 kilos of pangolin scales worth N25 million from Cameroon to Nigeria.
The Commanding Officer, Aliyu Abdullah, disclosed this while handing over the suspects and the items to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in Ibaka at the weekend.
Abdullahi said that the suspects were arrested by his officers while on routine patrol around Tom Shot Island on Thursday.
“The arrest was made during routine-stop-and-search of boats transiting from Cameroon to Nigeria,” he said.
He said pangolins are a critically endangered species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Abdullahi said smuggling of products derived from endangered animals, such as pangolin scales, across International maritime borders constituted a serious violation of both International and domestic legal frameworks.
He said the shipment of the scales was believed to be destined for a port in Lagos for smuggling out of Nigeria to markets in Asia.
