Confirming the interception in Lagos on Monday, Comptroller Michael Awe said vigilant officers discovered the birds on July 31 at the airport control post.
LAGOS — The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Murtala Muhammed Airport Command, has intercepted a consignment of more than 1,620 Ringneck Parakeets and Canaries destined for illegal export to Kuwait.
Confirming the interception in Lagos on Monday, Comptroller Michael Awe said vigilant officers discovered the birds on July 31 at the airport control post.
“These live birds, over 1,620 in number: ring-necked parakeets (parrots) and canaries (green and yellow-fronted), are protected species,” Awe said. “They ought to have been accompanied by a CITES permit.”
He stressed that Nigeria, as a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, must prevent illegal wildlife trade.
Awe said the NCS had launched an investigation to apprehend those behind the shipment and would hand the birds to the National Parks Service for safekeeping.