The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh has said that the ministry is currently investigating how the intercepted containers carrying snakes and other animals were able to be smuggled into the country.
It will be recalled that the Nigerian Customs Service recently intercepted 3 containers carrying snakes and other animals in Calabar.
Ogbeh said this incident calls for concern and demand that the Nigerian Quarantine Services (NAQS) should be allowed to freely discharge their duties at the ports and airports to ensure that this incidents doesn’t repeat.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Ogbeh said that similar incident happened when the Nigerian Quarantine Service intercepted some kolanuts that where being exported to Saudi Arabia, meanwhile Saudi Arabia had banned the importation of kolanuts into their country.
His words:”These are the reasons why Quarantine Service must be allowed to play its role and without necessarily disrupting the officials, they must be allowed to carry out their duty.
“Our ambition is to become a major agriculture nation again, so if the quality of what we have going out are in doubt and not checked, and some materials coming in are not meant for us, anything is possible.”
The Minister said that NAQS had reported the incident to the Ministry and an investigation is currently carried out by the ministry to unravel how the containers made their ways through.
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