From Dispatch Room
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Musa Adamu Aliyu, has called for a major shift in the global fight against wildlife trafficking, urging governments and enforcement agencies to treat the crime as an organised financial and corruption-related offence rather than solely a conservation issue.
Aliyu made the call while addressing the 35th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna, where he highlighted the critical role corruption plays in sustaining international wildlife trafficking networks.
According to the ICPC chairman, criminal syndicates involved in wildlife trafficking depend heavily on bribery, manipulation of customs processes, abuse of export permits, and other corrupt practices to move illegal products across borders. He argued that tackling these corruption channels is essential to dismantling the networks behind the illicit trade.
Aliyu described wildlife trafficking as part of a broader ecosystem of vulnerabilities involving transportation systems, financial structures, border institutions, and law enforcement agencies. He stressed that effective responses must target not only the trafficked products but also the money flows and officials who facilitate the crimes.
The ICPC chairman disclosed that the commission has established a dedicated unit focused on environmental crime investigations. He said the move reflects a strategic decision to accord environmental crimes the same level of attention traditionally given to money laundering and terrorism financing.
He further explained that modern investigations should incorporate advanced tools such as link analysis, digital evidence exploitation, financial profiling, asset tracing, and suspicious transaction monitoring to identify and dismantle criminal networks.
Aliyu also commended the efforts of the Environmental Investigation Agency for its collaboration with the ICPC in strengthening institutional responses to environmental crimes.
In his remarks, he called for stronger corruption-risk prevention mechanisms within customs services, licensing authorities, and border management institutions. He maintained that integrity, intelligence sharing, and interagency cooperation remain essential weapons in the fight against wildlife trafficking and other forms of transnational organised crime.
The chairman urged governments, anti-corruption agencies, and international partners to work more closely in addressing the corruption infrastructure that enables environmental crimes to flourish across borders.
— Newspot Nigeria
