Agency To Enforce CITES Laws

The National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has said that it will fully enforce the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of flora and fauna.

CITES is an international treaty signed in 1973 to protect wildlife from over exploitation and to prevent international trade in them to protect them from extinction.

The NESREA Director-General, Dr Ngeri Benebo, told The Tide’s source yesterday in Abuja that Nigeria, as a signatory to the convention, would not fold its hands and watch unscrupulous persons exploit the endangered species.

Benebo said the agency had appealed to the conscience of the people engaged in the trade through enlightenment and awareness creation in the mass media.

She said that henceforth the agency would apply the full weight of the law on any one caught trading in endangered species.

“CITES is all about enforcement on what people do at the airport and seaport and the agency is ready for the enforcement.

“We have sensitised Nigerians on the provision of CITES; We are ready to enforce CITES laws, we have made it known to the public; we have carried out an enligthment campaign concerning this issue and posters have been distributed,”she said.

Benebo said the agency would soon come out with jingles in local dialects to educate the masses on the need to sustain the environment.