By Joycelyn Ellakeche Adah
The Federal Government says more than 4,000 illegal miners have been dislodged from two mining sites in Gashaka-Gumti National Park, following a joint operation by the National Park Service and the Nigerian Army.
The operation is part of efforts to tackle illegal activities threatening Nigeria’s protected areas, including unauthorised mining, wildlife trafficking, illegal hunting and logging.
The Conservator-General of the National Park Service, Ibrahim Goni, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday during a meeting with the Environmental Media Correspondents Association of Nigeria, EMCAN.
Goni said the service was also working with security agencies to tackle wildlife trafficking, with Nigeria serving as a transit route for animal species and wildlife products from neighbouring countries, including Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
He said an inter-agency committee involving the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Park Service, the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency and the police had made seizures of live animals, carcasses and other wildlife specimens.
The Conservator-General also disclosed that about 17 miners had been arrested in Rivers State, while the service was collaborating with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development on enforcement activities in Oyo State.
He identified insecurity and the interconnected nature of forest areas as major challenges to protecting national parks, stressing the need for stronger collaboration among relevant agencies.
Nigeria currently has 17 national parks, 13 of which are operational, according to Goni.
He called for stronger media engagement to expose illegal activities and improve public understanding of the importance of protected areas.
The EMCAN Chairman, Adah, said the association would work to strengthen engagement between environmental journalists and the National Park Service, noting that only a few media organisations regularly cover the agency.
She said improved access to information and stronger collaboration would help journalists report more consistently on conservation and the challenges facing national parks.
The meeting ended with both parties expressing readiness to strengthen cooperation on environmental reporting and public awareness.
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