Wildlife and Forest Crime
Nigeria has evolved into being the primary transit hub for trafficking in illicit wildlife products, including pangolins, ivory and other protected species, and their remains from East and Central Africa, arriving in the country through its porous borders. The modes of transport invariably involve airports, ports and international land borders. Transnational organized criminals use exit points such as Abuja and Lagos airports, and most prominently Lagos seaports to ship wildlife species and their remains to South East Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North and South America.
Data from the UNODC World Wildlife Crime Report 2020, indicated the involvement of Nigeria in wildlife trafficking, either as a source, transit or destination country.
Our work
Since 2019, UNODC has been engaging with the Ministry of Environment (via the CITES focal point) and relevant law enforcement agencies, international partners and civil society organizations to strengthen coordination and promote information sharing on wildlife and forest crime matters. UNODC provides tailored technical assistance to frontline officers, investigators, prosecutors, judiciary and other stakeholders to improve the detection and interception of illicit wildlife products and secure successful investigation and prosecution of wildlife crime cases.
Our partners
Key partners for UNODC's work in this area include, among others, the Federal Ministry of Environment, the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, the National Park Service and various law enforcement agencies and civil society organizations.
Our projects
Our achievements
- Support for the development of Nigeria’s first ever National Strategy to Combat Wildlife and Forest Crime in Nigeria 2022-2026, officially launched by the Honourable Ministers of Environment in April 2022 as well as ongoing support for the implementation of the strategy
- Support for the development of the first edition of the Wildlife Crime in Nigeria, “Points to Prove”: A Guide for Investigators and Prosecutors, also commonly referred to as the Rapid Reference Guide (RRG). This document was officially launched during the commemoration of the 2023 World Wildlife Day
- Ongoing support for the finalization of the broad assessment of the national criminal justice and preventive response using the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) Analytical Toolkit and Indicator Framework. The high-level launch of the ICCWC interventions was held in April 2023.
- Ongoing support for improved operational and technical capacity of the frontline wildlife management and enforcement agencies through the provisions of tailored training for investigation, prosecutions and judicial officers as well as the provision of operational equipment.
- Finalization of the Corruption Risk Assessment for frontline agencies using the UNODC Guide on Addressing Corruption for Wildlife Management Authorities. Between 2021 and 2022, UNODC undertook a Corruption Risk Assessment for frontline wildlife agencies: Nigeria Customs Service, the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), the Federal Department of Forestry of the Federal Ministry of Environment and the National Park Service. The outcome of this process was the development of Corruption Risk Mitigation Strategies for each of these agencies and UNODC is supporting the implementation of these mitigation strategies.
