18th July, 2012
A former councillor in Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State, southsouth Nigeria, Joseph Enem and his accomplices have turned fugitives and are now hibernating in the forest after the police declared them wanted for illegally poaching four elephants in the Oban Forest Reserve.
The councillor and his accomplices are alleged to have killed the elephants and thrown away the bodies of the huge animals after removing their tusks which they hauled over to their agents who came into the state through neigbouring Cameroon for onward export to Europe for sale.
Mr Arikpo Arikpo, the Director Forestry in the state alleged that the councillor and his gang poached the elephants which are an endangered wildlife and are under the protection of the Forestry Commission.
He said the villagers cannot claim ignorance of the fact that the elephants and several other wildlife species found in the expansive Oban forest are under the protection of the commission and therefore should not be killed or stolen and sold illegally.
“When arrested, the four men would be made to face the law because poaching of wildlife in that forest is banned and the natives are all aware of the ban. So for that act of illegality the culprits would pay for it.”
He called on the chiefs and people of the area to assist in arresting the four fugitives as they could commit what he calls more havoc to the animals and bird species in the forest.
“They have to be arrested fast to stop them from commiting more havoc in the forest,” he said.
According to Arikpo, some persons were recently caught with 140 parrots stolen from the same forest and were in the process of exporting them to Europe through Cameroon when they were arrested.
“You can imagine what these poachers are doing to our forest; this is totally unacceptable and anyone caught in the illegal act would be made to face the law,” he warned.
—Emma Una/Calabar