Customs Seize Three Lagos Bound Containers of Live Snakes, Spiders, Frogs in Calabar Port

The Nigerian Customs Area Comptroller in charge of Calabar Free Trade Zone, Cross River and Akwa Ibom Command, Mrs. Nanbyen Burromvyat has announced the interception of three consignments containing 140 species of snakes imported into Nigeria.
Also, the command said it has confiscated 600 animals, made up of geckos, millipedes, hairy frogs and spiders, in the containers.
The items were said to have been imported from Cameroon and were intercepted by officers on July 24, 2017, on arrival at the NIWA jetty, with a market value of N6.9 million.
Burromvyat said the consignments, which were Lagos-bound, were prohibited items, under Schedule 3 of the Revised Import Prohibition List (Trade) in the Common External Tariff.

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A list of the items contained in the packaging list had snakes such as Atheris squamigera, Bitis gobanica, Dasypeltis ssp, Boiga pulverinata, among others, while the geckos were Hemidactylus frenatus and Hemidactylus fasciatus. She said: “These containers have animals of different sizes. They were brought in on July 24, 2017, through this Calabar waterway. The consignment was spotted by our vigilant officers and they contain live animals.
“There is no provision for permit to bring them in. We are seizing them and handing the containers over to the Nigerian Quarantine Services for further necessary action.