The bill, hailed as one of the toughest legal\u00a0deterrents\u00a0to wildlife crime in West Africa, is a big step forward for conservation policies, but experts warn that without strong enforcement capacity, it risks becoming little more than a paper victory.<\/p>\n
Recently passed by the Nigerian Senate on Oct. 28, the Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill 2024 aligns Nigeria more closely with international conservation agreements, including CITES.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new bill addresses long-existing gaps in our legal framework,\u201d Terseer Ugbor, the bill\u2019s sponsor and deputy chairman of the House Committee on Environment, said in a call with Mongabay. \u201cThe old law was riddled with ambiguities. It failed to specify whether its provisions applied only to international wildlife trade or also to domestic transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new legislation expands the list of protected species, toughens deterrent penalties and empowers the courts to freeze assets tied to wildlife crimes. It also grants government agencies the power to close interagency enforcement and prosecution gaps that traffickers have abused for decades.<\/p>\n
Nigeria is an established<\/a> global hub<\/a> for wildlife trafficking; in April 2025<\/a>, more than 3.7 metric tons of pangolin scales, representing more than 1,900 animals, were seized<\/a> in Lagos. Estimates suggest that between 2010 and 2021, upward of a million pangolins, nearly 90,000 animals per year, were trafficked through Nigerian networks. And in 2024 alone, nearly 1.6 metric tons of ivory were seized<\/a> in Vietnam and traced back Nigeria.<\/p>\n Despite Nigeria\u2019s well-known position as a transit point for wildlife smuggled from Central and West Africa to buyers in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, successful prosecutions for wildlife crimes are rare. The government has secured just 12 convictions<\/a> in the last three years.<\/p>\n Given the scale and history of wildlife crime in Nigeria, Tunde Morakinyo, executive director of the Africa Nature Investors Foundation<\/a>, is \u201cexcited\u201d by the bill but remains cautious about what the new legislation can achieve in practice. \u201cA law is useless without enforcement. Training, equipment, agency coordination and public education are required for effective implementation,\u201d he told Mongabay.<\/p>\n Still, regional observers see Nigeria\u2019s move as part of a broader trend in West Africa. Countries including Togo, Benin and C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire have also recently stiffened penalties for wildlife crime amid international pressure to combat trafficking. Given Nigeria\u2019s central role in the wildlife trafficking network, effective enforcement there could have ripple effects across the region.<\/p>\n \u201cWith stricter laws, improved enforcement and widespread campaigns, Nigeria could move from being a hub for wildlife trafficking to a leader in conservation,\u201d Mark Ofua, West Africa representative for Wild Africa, told Mongabay.<\/p>\n Banner image of a pangolin by Frendi Apen Irawan via\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n