Nigeria exports over 400 snakes to England every month – via Herp Digest

8/18/18 NEWS32

Authorities of the Snakebite Treatment and Research Centre, Kaltungo in Gombe state, have revealed that over 400 snakes of different varieties are being exported from the centre to Liverpool in England every month. 

Dr. Abubakar Ballah, Officer in charge of the centre, who made the disclosure to newsmen in Kaltungo on Thursday, said the snakes exported served as raw material for the production of anti-snake venom. 

“The manufacturers extract the venom from the snakes to produce the drugs,” he said. 

He said the raw material provided for the processing of the anti-snake venom made the drugs cheaper in Nigeria when compared with countries that did not supply raw material for its production. 

Ballah said countries that do not supply the raw material were buying a single vial of the drug at the cost of 1,900 USD, which is equivalent to N684, 000, while the same drug in Nigeria is N35, 000. 

According to him, the same drug in the United States for rattle snake that undergoes the same process of production costs between N7million and 8 million, which is very expensive. 

He said the Centre engaged people within Kaltungo and its environs to catch the snakes and package same, at the cost of between N500 and N1, 000 per snake, depending on the size of the reptile. 

The officer in charge said the snakes were usually taken to Abuja from Kaltungo, from where they are packaged and exported to England. 

“On arrival in England, they will undergo some screening to ensure they have not suffered because Animal Rights Organisations are on the watch; after following the process, drug production commences,” he said. 

Kaltungo town in Kaltungo Local Government Area of Gombe, popularly called the ‘Snake Haven’ lies within the Snake belt region of Northern Nigeria, and is known for its abundance of different species of snakes. 

The common species found in the area are Carpets Viper, Puff Adder and Cobra. (NAN)

Wildlife secrets of Nigeria's last wilderness

By Helen Briggs BBC News

23 February 2018

The world's rarest chimpanzee has been captured on camera in the remote forests of Nigeria.

The Nigeria-Cameroon chimp was seen at various locations within Gashaka Gumti National Park, raising hopes for its future survival.

Conservationists also recorded the first sighting in the country of a giant pangolin.

The park is regarded as a national treasure, but its wildlife is under threat from pressures such as poaching.

Researchers from Chester Zoo, working with the Nigeria National Park Service, surveyed over 1,000 square kilometres of the national park.

Known for its mountain rainforests, savannah woodlands and rolling grasslands, it is home to some of West Africa's most endangered animals.

The cameras spotted some animals that have never been recorded before in the area and others, like chimps, which are rarely seen.

Stuart Nixon, the Africa Field Programme Co-ordinator at Chester Zoo, said confirmation of the locations of chimps was an important discovery.

"Gashaka's been regarded for many years as having the biggest population of this Nigeria-Cameroon chimp, which is the rarest chimp subspecies," he said.

Read on  

Illegal Reptiles’ importation: Nigerian Federal Government begins investigation - via Herp Digest

The Eagle Online, 7/29/17 —The Federal Government says it has commenced investigation to uncover the importers of three consignments containing 140 species of snakes and 660 other animals from Cameroon to Nigeria.

The Nigeria Customs Service on July 26 intercepted three consignments containing 140 species of snakes and 660 other animals in Calabar, Cross River State.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, told newsmen in Abuja on Friday that the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service had been directed to commence the investigation immediately.

Ogbeh reiterated the need for officials of the NAQS to be stationed at the country’s ports to enable them to address such issues before they escalated.

The minister, who expressed the fear that if the quality of agricultural produce imported into Nigeria was not checked, a sort of biological warfare could also be launched against the country’s agricultural sector.

He said: “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.”

NAN reports the containers were brought in aboard a Cameroonian vessel, ‘MV Flesh’, through the Calabar waterway.

The containers reportedly contained snakes and other animals such as geckos, millipedes, hairy frogs and spiders.

Nigeria's superhighway threatens local communities, elephants, and gorillas

Date: October 28, 2016
Source: Wildlife Conservation Society

A proposed superhighway in Nigeria's Cross River State will displace 180 indigenous communities and threaten one of the world's great centers of biodiversity if completed, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society).

In response, WCS is launching an international campaign to encourage decision makers in Nigeria to pursue alternative development options to either reroute the proposed highway away from the protected areas and community forests along the border area with Cameroon, or to rehabilitate existing highways. The campaign has generated 41,786 petitions since October 14.

The process of clearing a corridor for the project has already begun but has been temporarily halted as a result of protests from local communities, which helped to initiate an environmental impact assessment, but work on the highway could restart at any time.

The WCS campaign is teaming up with the Ekuri Initiative, an award-winning forest stewardship organization run by one of the many indigenous communities in the path of the proposed highway. The Ekuri Initiative has already delivered 253,000 signatures to the federal government asking for Nigerian President Buhari to protect their precious ancestral forests, and WCS is asking its followers to sign on with their support. You can sign the petition here: http://bit.ly/2dWeKxB.

"The proposed highway poses an enormous threat to the cultures and the wildlife of the entire region," said John Calvelli, WCS's Executive Vice President for Public Affairs and Director for the 96 Elephants campaign and other public engagement efforts for conservation. "We're happy to lend our support to the Ekuri Initiative in the effort to save the local communities of Cross River State and the irreplaceable natural treasures also found there."

 

Continued  

Three countries receive CITES trade bans for failing elephants

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Kevin Heath

Three countries have been placed on a trade ban list for failing to meet their obligations to protect elephants and deal with the rampant illegal ivory trade. Notices were issued today by CITES recommending that signatories no longer permit trade with Nigeria, Laos and DR Congo.

During the July 2014 meeting of CITES tackling the ivory trade and elephant poaching became a pressing concern and a number of countries were listed as not doing enough to halt the trade. 11 countries were ordered to produce and submit national ivory action plans.

These plans had to be submitted to CITES by October 2014. Despite reminders being issued to Nigeria, Laos and DR Congo in January and February this year and the deadline being extended until March 14th no plans have been submitted.

During an inter-sessional meeting in January this year it was decided that those countries failing to meet the 14th March deadline should face trade bans on all CITES species.

The CITES Secretariat have now invoked those sanctions and issued formal notice to all CITES members to enforce trade bans with the three countries.

Continued ...

Nigeria: Boko Haram Members 'Being Killed by Mystical Bees and Mysterious Snakes Possessed by Ghosts'

Members of terror group Boko Haram have allegedly been arrested in Nigeria after fleeing a forest to escape deadly bites from "mystical bees" and "mysterious snakes".

According to Nigerian newspaper Vanguard, the captured insurgents claimed the creatures -- possessed by ghosts -- had killed many Boko Haram members.

"We were told that the aggrieved people who had suffered from our deadly mission -- including the ghosts of some of those we killed -- are the ones turning into the snake and bees," one militant told Vanguard. "Our leaders fled, too."

Boko Haram made headlines worldwide for the kidnappings of 220 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, last April.

The girls are being allegedly smuggled to Cameroon and Chad and sold as brides to militants for 2,000 naira (£7). Others are being forced to marry their abductors.

Some Boko Haram members believe the insects and reptiles are hunting the insurgents to punish them for the mass abduction.

"We decided to flee when almost all our comrades are leaving the Sambisa [Forest] because of constant attacks by snakes and bees, which we were told was as a result of Chibok abducted schoolgirls," one insurgent said.

Continued

Rare footage of elusive golden cat attacking a pangolin

6 May 2014 Last updated at 01:25Help

Footage courtesy of Chester Zoo/Gashaka Biodiversity Project.

Camera traps set up to monitor chimpanzees in Nigeria's Gashaka Gumti National Park have captured rare footage of the elusive African golden cat attacking a pangolin.

Scott Wilson, Head of Field Conservation and Research at Chester Zoo, told BBC Nature: "The golden cat is the least known of Africa's felids, so any additional information and footage of it is exciting."

Africa's golden cat was caught on camera for the first time in 2002 and this is the first time it has been caught on camera in Gashaka Gumti National Park.

The cat leaps upon the pangolin, a long-tailed mammal covered in scaly armoured plates. But the pangolin then appears to escape by curling into a ball, a defensive posture, and rolling away, before the cat returns to inspect its potential prey.

It adds to the limited understanding of this rarely seen jungle cat, strongly suggesting that pangolin are a prey item.

Continued and video

Deformed calf not caused by man

A deformed calf that faintly matched human or baboon features and sparked rumours of bestiality has been put to rest.

Farmers of farm Neuland in the Erwe district were visited by veterinary officials stationed at Kamanjab to explain to them why the calf resembled a human or a baboon, after tests had been done on the calf.

“We got a visit from the Kamanjab veterinary office and we were told that the calf did not have any trace of human blood, nor did any of the farmers have intercourse of some kind with the cow,” a farmer said.

According to the farmer, the veterinary officials told them that the calf was not fully formed and was still in the process of developing, and that the bull that bred with the cow of the deformed calf probably had a low sperm count.

“We knew that there is a bull with one testicle at the farm, but we did not think of it when the calf was born. The officials told us that it must be the bull because he has one testicle and is very old. They also told us those types of deformed calved are sometimes caused by medicine used to prevent cattle from picking up certain diseases. But in this case the officials confirmed the bull was responsible for the deformed calf.”

She added that though they were shocked by the birth of the calf, the farmers are happy that no man was involved.

http://www.informante.web.na/index.php?option=com_content&id=12459:deformed-calf-not-caused-by-man&catid=19:inside-pages&Itemid=100

Centre Admits 2,806 Snake Bite Patients (Nigeria) – via Herp Digest

PM News Lagos, Nigeria 11/7/12  

At least 2,806 patients were admitted at the Snake Bite Treatment and Research Centre, Kaltungo, Gombe State from January to November, 2012.

The Medical Officer in Charge of the Centre, Dr Habu Ballah, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaltungo on Tuesday.

He said of the figure 33 patients died owing to the delay in reaching the centre, while four others died on arrival at the centre.

Dr Ballah recalled that 316 patients attended the centre in 2011, saying the existing figure was higher owing to factors such as flooding, lack of awareness of treatment at the centre and increase in farming activities.

He said apart from the state, patients were brought from Taraba, Plateau, Bauchi, Adamawa, Jigawa, Kano, Yobe and even Cameroun.

“Last year, we recorded about 316 patients, but this year we are going to have more than that.

“The increase is due to awareness on the part of the patients on the services here, flooding that took place this year which made the snakes to be in the land and the engagements in the farms as civil servants engaged in farming,” he said. According to him, in the six days of November we so far have about 90 patients and the increase is due to harvesting and flooding.

He said before this month, an average of 12 patients were brought to the centre daily, but added that the figure increased to 19 because of harvesting season and flooding.

Ballah advised people in the snake infested areas to wear boots and gloves when working in the nights, leave markets and farms early as the snakes start coming out from 6.30 p.m.

He commended women in Kaltungo for building and donating a ward at the centre.

He commended the Rotary Club of Greenwich, England, for providing 70 vials of drugs and some philanthropists in the state who donated drugs, mattresses as well as the 11 Local Governments in the state which gave N5.5 million worth of drugs.

Nigeria uncovers cocaine-stuffed roasted chicken

LAGOS, Nigeria -- The roasted chickens had an unusual stuffing - $150,000 worth of cocaine, according to Nigerian police.

A Nigerian mechanic who struggled in Brazil for more than six years had hoped the drugs would buy him a life of luxury in his native land, Nigerian authorities said Monday.

"This was like a retirement plan for him," said Mitchell Ofoyeju, spokesman for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

The accused was arrested over the weekend at the airport in Lagos after he came in from Sao Paulo with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of cocaine, Ofoyeju said. Photos from the agency showed egg-shaped packages wrapped in gold aluminum foil and tucked into the browned chickens.

The suspect, Vincent Chegini Chinweuwa, could not immediately be reached for comment as he remained in custody Monday.

Nigeria is a major transit point for drugs coming from Latin America and going to Europe or the United States but recent security improvements are cutting into that dubious distinction.

After a Nigerian man allegedly attempted to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner in 2009, Nigeria started installing airport scanners and sought training for its agents. Ofoyeju says the scanners helped authorities identify more than 100 drug carriers last year, leading to the seizure of about 410 kilograms (904 pounds) of cocaine, among other illicit drugs.

Authorities have found drugs sandwiched inside the fabric of suitcases, sewn into wigs worn by female passengers, tucked into underwear or hidden in phone chargers and even in a stethoscope, Ofoyeju said.

"The list is endless," he said.

Read more:   http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/03/4782057/nigeria-cocaine-stuffed-roasted.html 

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/03/4782057/nigeria-cocaine-stuffed-roasted.html#storylink=cpy

Oil spill - Nigeria coast

Nigeria on alert as Shell announces worst oil spill in a decade

Nigerian coastal and fishing communities were on Thursday put on alert after Shell admitted to an oil spill that is likely to be the worst in the area for a decade, according to government officials..


The company said up to 40,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled on Wednesday while it was transferred from a floating oil platform to a tanker 75 miles off the coast of the Niger delta.

All production from the Bonga field, which produces around 200,000 barrels a day, was last night suspended. "Early indications show that less than 40,000 barrels of oil have leaked in total. Spill response procedures have been initiated and emergency control and spill risk procedures are up and running," said Tony Okonedo, a Shell Nigeria spokesman.

Satellite pictures obtained by independent monitors Skytruth suggested that the spill was 70km-long and was spread over 923 square kilometers (356 sq miles).

But a leading Nigerian human rights group said Shell's figures about the quantity of oil spilled or the clean-up could not be relied on. "Shell says 40,000 barrels were spilled and production was shut but we do not trust them because past incidents show that the company consistently under-reports the amounts and impacts of its carelessness," said Nnimmo Bassey, head of Environmental Rights Action, based in Lagos.

"We are alerting fisher folks and coastal communities to be on the look out. It just adds to the list of Shell's environmental atrocities in the Niger delta."

The spill, one of the worst off the coast of Nigeria in 10 years, is particularly embarrassing for Shell, coming only four months after a major UN study said it could take Shell and other oil companies 30 years and $1bn to clean spills in Ogoniland, one small part of the oil-rich delta. The company also admitted responsibility in August for two major spills in the Bodo region of the delta that took place in 2008, but has yet to pay compensation.

Shell, which works in partnership with the Nigerian government in the delta, claims that 98% of all its oil spills are caused by vandalism, theft or sabotage by militants and only a minimal amount by deteriorating infrastructure. But this is disputed by communities.

Yesterday Shell said it had also closed a Gulf of Mexico deep drilling operation after spilling 319 barrels of contaminated fluids.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/22/nigerian-shell-oil-spill

Human beings-turned goats story, a hoax -Police

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/july/07/national-07-07-2010-021.htm


Daily Sun [Nigeria] 7 July 2010

Human beings-turned goats story, a hoax -Police

By VINCENT UKPONG KALU and MATTHEW DIKE

Yesterday morning, rumours spread like bush fire in the harmattan in Ojo, and other neighbouring towns in Lagos and Ogun States that seven human beings were turned to goats through esoteric means . The rumour also had it that the goats were detained in Ojo Police station. A motley crowd besieged the police station to witness the bizarre development.