Four foreigners were on Wednesday jailed by a Lagos High Court for wildlife trafficking.
The convicts are three Vietnamese -Phan Chi, Phan Quan, and Duong Thang, and a Guinean, Mory Berrette.
After reaching a plea bargain with the Nigerian Customs Service, they appeared before Justice Yelim Bogoro, who accepted their guilty pleas to an amended four-count.
On the first count, the court gave each of them a choice between three years in prison and a fine of N500,000.
The judge said, “You are sentenced to two years imprisonment on the second count, or in lieu of imprisonment pay the sum of N2m each as a fine.
“The convicts shall each pay a fine in the sum of N2m each for the third count, being first-time offenders.
“The convicts shall each be sentenced to one-year imprisonment on the fourth count or in lieu of imprisonment pay the sum of N200,000 each as a fine.”
According to the terms of the plea bargain deal, the convicts “will assist in providing useful information for the arrest of other persons at large who are involved in the wildlife trafficking trade within and outside Nigeria.
“The convicts also agreed to stand as witnesses for the prosecution when required to do so, if the absconding suspects involved in the trace of illegal wildlife trafficking within and outside Nigeria are arrested now or at any time in the future.”
Along with two Nigerians, Babangida Mahmoud and Olamilekan Adenekan, and a Guinean, Fofou Evariste, the four convicts had been on trial since 2022.
On July 22, 2022, the NCS arraigned the seven suspects for allegedly illegally possessing, dealing in, assembling, storing, and trading elephant and pangolin ivory.
As a consequence of collaborative law enforcement efforts by the NCS and the Wildlife Justice Commission against illegal wildlife dealers and traffickers from Africa to Asia, they were apprehended.
All of the defendants committed the acts in Lagos between 2018 and 2022, the prosecution stated the court.
