By CrossRiverWatch Admin
The federal government on Friday said it has commenced investigation into the importation of some 740 animals imported from its southern port city of Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
Minister for Agriculture, Audi Ogbeh said the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services has since been directed to investigate the incidence and called for the agency’s staff to be stationed at the ports to check such situations which he expressed fear may make the country susceptible to biological warfare reports the Nigerian Prime.
“It is very important to know the tendencies of saying that the quarantine service should not be kept away from the ports.
“It is a threat and a danger because the other day, somebody attempted to smuggle kolanuts to Saudi Arabia.
“The Saudis have told us not to bring kolanuts into their country.
“The Quarantine Service had to go into the aircraft and stop the plane from leaving; it then brought the kolanuts down and now, it is snakes.
“Our ambition is to become a major agricultural nation, if the quality of what we take out and that of the materials coming in are not known to us, anything can happen.
“The dangers include biological warfare, which can be launched against our agriculture industry.
“These are reasons why the quarantine service must be allowed to play its roles without necessarily disrupting the ports’ routine functions,” Ogbeh said.
The Nigeria Customs Service had on July 26 intercepted 3 crates containing 140 snakes and some 600 other animals including geckos, hairy frogs and spiders aboard the vessel MV Flesh coming in from Cameroon and Lagos bound in Calabar.
Two had been arrested in connection to the incident.
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