The country’s efforts to protect the pangolin–trafficked for its high market value–are being watched closely, on the global stage. If successful, it could become a model for conservation in Africa, proving that even the most entrenched illegal trades can be dismantled.
Mark Ofua vividly remembers the moment he met Ireti. It was in a crowded bushmeat market in Epe, on the outskirts of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, six years ago. The air was thick with the scent of smoked game and the murmurs of people haggling, their voices drowning out every other sound.
As a veterinarian and conservationist, he had spent years wandering through these markets, rescuing injured animals from a trade that showed little concern for wildlife. He had seen all kinds of creatures—monkeys, civets, even endangered tortoises—openly displayed and on sale. But on that day, he encountered an animal he had never seen before.
Lying on a rickety wooden table was a frail, almost lifeless creature, curled into itself; its body covered in hard, overlapping scales. It looked like a rodent encased in armor. The vendor dismissed it as just another item on the menu, but, still, it caught Ofua’s attention.
“What was more amazing was the fact that we had them here in Nigeria and I hadn’t the faintest inkling!’’ Ofua, Wild Africa’s West Africa spokesperson, recalls to FORBES AFRICA.
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As he reached out to rescue it, negotiating with the vendor for the creature’s freedom, the pangolin—which it was later identified as—took its final breath. With one last heave, the animal pushed out a tiny, squirming pangopup, still covered in birth tissue. The mother was gone, but her newborn was very much alive.
The vendor had no use for a baby pangolin. It was too young to be eaten and too weak to be sold. And so, with little interest, he handed the pangopup over to Ofua.
That was the moment Ireti was born.
The Plight Of The Pangolin
Across Nigeria–a country rich in biodiversity–pangolins have been illegally caught, traded, and shipped off in alarming numbers.
According to the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), between 2016 and 2019, an estimated 206.4 tons of pangolin scales were confiscated from 52 seizures.
It also noted that six of the 27 identified countries and territories disproportionately involved in the trafficking of pangolin scales were found to be linked to 94% or 193.2 tons of all seized contraband during the period analyzed in the report, with Nigeria and Vietnam playing prominent roles in the supply chain. Between 2016 and 2019, they were linked to almost 70% of pangolin scale seizures.
This, perhaps, makes Ireti’s name all the more significant. Ofua chose it based on the Yoruba word for ‘hope’, because he felt that that was what she represented—not just for herself, but for her entire species.
“These [vendor] markets operate in the open and even the authorities couldn’t care less about the damage they did,” he says.
Pangolins, also known as scaly anteaters, are among the most unique creatures in the world, yet many have not heard of them. They are the only mammals covered completely in scales made up of keratin—the same material as in human fingernails—that comprise up to 20% of their body weight.
With long, sticky tongues that can stretch as far as nearly half their body length, it has been estimated that they consume over 70 million insects annually, aerating the soil in the process. When pangolins feel threatened, they roll up into a ball so only their scaly suit of armor is exposed.
“The best description I have come across is a pangolin looks like an artichoke with armor. It comes from the cretaceous era. Its tongue is so long it curls in its belly. It has no teeth and has powerful front claws,” Ray Jansen, a professor at the University of Tshwane and Vice-Chair of the African Pangolin Working Group, told FORBES AFRICA in 2015.
“What is a pangolin? The research we did revealed that the pangolin is most closely related to a cat. It’s not even on the same genetics as an armadillo.”
As incredible as their biology is, it is also what has made them the world’s most trafficked mammals.
Their scales–which have been ground into fine powder and encapsulated in pills or mixed into water–are prized in parts of Asia for traditional medicine, despite there reportedly being no scientific evidence to support its healing properties.
Their meat is considered a delicacy in countries like Vietnam and China, and is consumed as bushmeat in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon, to name a few. This demand has driven all eight pangolin species towards extinction.
“The first problem here is a lack of fundamental understanding of how the ecosystem needs every one of its inhabitants to contribute their part in ensuring a balance,” Nigerian analyst Damilare Asiwaju shares with FORBES AFRICA.
“Until there’s that acknowledgement of the fact that every creature has a role to play, illegal poaching would continue to exist, sadly.’’
In Ireti’s case, for weeks, Ofua struggled to keep her alive. There was no guidebook on raising a newborn pangolin at the time. He spent sleepless nights monitoring her breathing, scouring the internet for advice, and reaching out to wildlife experts worldwide.
He didn’t give up and, slowly but surely, she grew stronger. Ireti learned to climb, to dig, and to curl into a perfect ball when frightened.
When Ofua first introduced her to live ants, she attacked them with animalistic enthusiasm—that is, until they fought back. Startled, as Ofua recalls, she ran away and avoided ants for days before finally trying again.
“The release was one final emotional roller coaster… it took me three trips into the forest before I could bring myself to release her,’’ he shares.
It was bittersweet for Ofua, but necessary; Ireti belonged in the wild.
Her story did not end there. She later became the inspiration for SaintMarks Pangolin Orphanage–Nigeria’s first–where Ofua and his team have since rescued, rehabilitated, and released over 40 orphaned pangolins.
“Ireti, to me, is a beacon of hope for pangolins; a generation that should have ended on the bushmeat table now had a new lease on life.”
Nigeria At The Center Of A Global Trade
The West African nation is home to three of Africa’s four pangolin species—the black-bellied, white-bellied, and giant pangolins. And each pangolin has upwards of 1,000 scales.
According to the National Museum of American Diplomacy, pangolin scales fetch over $3,500 per kilogram on the black market. It’s also been reported that their meat can be sold for around $300 per kilogram, and that a kilogram of live pangolin can sell for as much as $15,000.
Their protection under international law, with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) banning all international commercial trade in them, hasn’t stopped the slaughter. And while poaching has long been a problem across the African continent, Nigeria has become an epicenter of pangolin trafficking.
“There is the urgent need for increased and proper awareness on the impending danger of pangolins’ extinction and the resultant effects it would bring,” Asiwaju says.
“Also, stiffer sanctions should be meted out against traffickers. And if possible, a taskforce should be constituted to actively seek out and deal with offenders.”
Further to this, a WildAid-commissioned survey, conducted by GlobeScan, found that 71% of Nigerians have eaten bushmeat at least once.
Though the country is a signatory to international treaties, like CITES, implementation remains lax. The Endangered Species Act, amended in 2016, increased fines for poaching to ₦5 million ($3,276) and mandated a one-year prison sentence for repeat offenders. But, despite these regulations, trafficking persists.
Between January 2010 and September 2021, Nigeria was linked to pangolin trafficking incidents spanning 21 countries or territories across Africa, Asia, and Europe. In 2017, a shipment of pangolin scales originating from Cameroon was seized in Nigeria, weighing around 6,754kg.
Smugglers have continued to use Nigerian ports as key transit hubs, however, seizure of these shipments has also increased in recent years, and the plight of the pangolin has taken center stage.
A Renewed Fight Against Illegal Wildlife Trade
In 2022, an unexpected force joined the fight to save Nigeria’s wildlife, including the pangolin: pop culture. That year, WildAid launched a national conservation campaign featuring some of the country’s biggest celebrities, including Afrobeats singer, songwriter and producer, David ‘Davido’ Adeleke, Nigerian professional footballer Alex Iwobi, child comedian Emmanuella Samuel, and Nollywood actor, Stephanie Linus.
The campaign, developed in partnership with Nigeria’s Ministry of Environment, took on the illegal bushmeat trade. Billboards, TV and radio ads, and social media campaigns urged Nigerians to rethink their consumption of wild animals.
One moment, in particular, caught the public’s attention. Davido, known for his influence on youth culture, posed with Neal, another pangolin rescued from the bushmeat trade in Lagos. The image went viral.
An X user commented: “Because of @davido, I wouldn’t be eating this bush meat again”.
Another added: “Davido and Emmanuella are drawing attention here. I love this awareness”.
Public perception seemed to be shifting. For the first time, urban Nigerians—many of whom had never questioned the bushmeat trade—were talking about conservation.
Working To Ensure A Future For Nigeria’s Pangolins
Nigeria’s role in this area has always been complex. The country’s well-established trade networks, vast porous borders, and international shipping infrastructure have made it an attractive base for wildlife traffickers.
However in 2024, the gradual shift become more visible.
Early in the year, the country took significant steps to combat the illegal pangolin trade through a combination of legislative measures and high-profile seizures.
The Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill—which passed its second reading—promised harsher penalties for wildlife traffickers. If passed into law, those caught smuggling pangolins or their scales could face steep fines and long prison sentences.
The Speaker of the country’s parliament, Tajudeen Abbas, noted during the start of the public hearing on the bill, that in January 2019, Hong Kong customs seized $8 million worth of elephant tusks and pangolin scales from a shipping container sent from Nigeria.
Late in 2024, the WJC reported on the arrest of a suspected pangolin scale broker and the seizure of 2.179 tons of pangolin scales.
Officers from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) arrested a lone suspect—a broker believed to be at the center of a transnational smuggling network–in Mubi, a town near Nigeria’s northeastern border.
Between July 2021 and December 2024, Nigerian authorities conducted 16 operations, made 35 arrests, and secured 12 convictions, seizing over 21,000 kilograms of pangolin scales—more than half of it in 2024 alone, confirmed at the time by the command’s public relations officer for the area.
One of the largest-ever seizures in a WJC-supported operation took place in August 2024, when NCS officers raided a warehouse in Ogun State, western Nigeria and confiscated 7.2 tons of pangolin scales. Another 2.294 tons were seized in Kaduna, northern Nigeria leading to four arrests.
The combined value of the goods from these two seizures was estimated at around $175,000 but once smuggled to Asia, their value skyrockets to $1.7 million—a financial incentive that keeps traffickers in business despite the risks.
“The interest we are beginning to have in recent times is only because the law enforcement is getting better and we are beginning to catch some of the loopholes that these criminals operate through… Because of the way other countries in southern and eastern Africa have developed their wildlife resources and conservation, it is harder for trafficking through their borders,” says Ofua.
“It is a good thing now that the men of the Nigeria Customs Service are waking up to their duties… They now have a wildlife crime unit which has significantly boosted coverage. I also know they are working on introducing sniffer dogs that would reduce the need for manpower drastically and be a game-changer.”
Global Collaborative Efforts
Nigeria is not alone in this crisis. The decline of Asian pangolins—due to overhunting, trafficking and habitat loss—has pushed traffickers to source their supply from Africa. As several countries expand their economic ties with Africa, smuggling networks flourish, making it harder to control the trade.
International organizations, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), are also stepping in to support Nigeria’s efforts.
In 2019, the Nigerian government requested an ICCWC Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit assessment, which recently resulted in 33 key recommendations for strengthening Nigeria’s wildlife crime response. The report was launched at an event in Abuja in September 2024.
Among them were enhancing wildlife forensics capacity building efforts and providing operational and technical assistance tools and skills for frontline enforcement authorities.
A Conservation Race Against Time
While law enforcement agencies crack down on traffickers, conservationists in Nigeria are working to change public perception.
Organizations like the Pangolin Conservation Guild Nigeria (PCGN) are debunking myths about pangolins, stressing that their scales hold no medicinal value.
In February 2025, a day before World Pangolin Day, PCGN announced yet another rescue—one more pangolin saved from being turned into bushmeat.
There were reports that another pangolin had been rescued from bushmeat consumers in November 2024 by a conservationist, identified simply as Destiny from Cross River State, southern Nigeria.
“We are working hard to make sure this lovely pangolin finds its way back to its natural habitat,” the organization said in the post announcing the rescue.
The PCGN team, alongside the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), also collaborated in December 2024 to address an issue regarding an event in western Nigeria featuring pangolin on its list of available meats, after receiving a tipoff.
“Pangolin scales are very profitable because they attract quite a high sum in the black-market trade but as always, there is an inverted pyramid in the economics of the trade; usually the local hunters go into the bush in search of pangolins in connivance with syndicates who can’t go in,” says Ofua.
“The local hunters are paid peanuts in exchange for the harvested pangolins, which for instance might be around $5. The harvested pangolins become more expensive as they move up the trade chain while the brokers and crime syndicates make more profit.’’
He recommends a push for a wildlife protection coalition by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with the belief that intelligence-sharing across the region could prove to be a game-changer.
The fight for Nigeria’s pangolins is far from over. But as long as there are people willing to stand up for the voiceless, there is still hope. However, time is running out. Without immediate and sustained action, the pangolin–a creature that has roamed the earth for 80 million years—could disappear in our lifetime.
As World Pangolin Day approaches each year in February, one question remains: will Nigeria be remembered as the country that saved the pangolin—or the one that let it vanish?
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