By Attah Steve, Abuja
An ecosystem advocacy group, the National Ecosystem Advocates of Nigeria, NEAN, has called on the Federal government of Nigeria to intervene in the illegal killing and exportation of donkeys from the country by some Chinese.
In a statement jointly signed by the group’s National Coordinator, Comrade Ben Iguabor and the National Secretary, Silas Modaccai and made available to ASHENEWS on Friday, the conservationists also expressed worry that forest guards from the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) were being attacked, harassed, and maimed by the Chinese and their unpatriotic Nigerian collaborators.
NEAN expressed concerns that if the ugly trend is not quickly checked, donkeys in the country would go extinct in no time.
The group alleged that some Chinese enter the country as construction workers, only to turn to operating as marauders, poaching and exporting the nation’s donkeys illegally to China with the active connivance of some unpatriotic Nigerians.
“Our observations reveal that some Chinese who enter the country on the guise of construction workers fraudulently turn some of our nation’s forests and bushes into a haven for the destruction of our flora and fauna for their selfish material and economic gains.
“Unfortunately, these illegal Chinese find easy collaborators among some unpatriotic Nigerians who aid them in perpetuating the violation of animals and timbers in our forests and bushes.
“In particular, illegal buying and slaughtering of donkeys in parts of the Southeast and Northwest for export has continued to thrive among these unscrupulous Chinese and their local collaborators.
“We understand that donkey meat, as well as their hides and skins are very highly sought after in China, which is unable to meet its local needs, hence the pressure and resort to illegal importation from countries like Nigeria”.
The group regretted that “as if the illegal killing and export of donkeys from Nigeria by these Chinese are not enough, the Chinese have recently resorted to assaulting and harming guards of the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) who attempt to check their nefarious activities and their collaborators.”
It claimed that on two occasions in January this year and only last Tuesday, agents of the Chinese were reported to have organized heinous attacks on NAQS guards as well as some police personnel attached to them in Ebony state, carted away weapons of the police, and inflicted serious injuries on those guards.
The group implored the Inspector General of Police to immediately order the arrest and prosecution of those behind these dastardly acts.
The group also called on the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), to live up to its statutory responsibilities by monitoring and ensuring that foreigners, in this case, Chinese, who come into the country, are permitted purely on need-base.
They also enjoined the immigration service to carry out the routine renewal of expatriates work permits to ensure compliance with the nation’s extant laws.
