Nigeria’s public destruction of ivory demonstrates increasing intolerance of wildlife crime
NIGERIA is taking an increasingly public stand against the illegal wildlife trade. A recent, widely-broadcast event, saw the country crush some 2.5 tonnes (2436.15 kg) of elephant tusks. The ivory, valued at over 9.9 billion naira (US $11.2 million), was crushed in a ceremony held in Abuja on January 9, hosted by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in collaboration with the Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation (EPIF). In his remarks at the ceremony, Iziaq Adekunle Salako, the Minister of State for the Environment, indicated that the ceremony was a "demonstration that it is just the beginning of…
