The Murtala Muhammed Airport Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has intercepted male donkey genitals and dried shark fins worth N1.23bn ($3m) at Lagos airport. The consignment was en route to china and Hong Kong.

In a statement on Thursday while displaying the seized items, the Customs Area Controller in charge of the command, Muhammed Yusuf, said, the male donkey genitals were harvested from Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, by a Chinese, saying that donkeys as well as other specific animals are used for medicinal purposes in China.

“Donkeys are under endangered species and they came from Abakaliki and we begin to wonder why it came from that side. “We have a lot of donkeys in Abakaliki and now that they are endangered species, if these things continue to go out like this, you can imagine the roles they play in the ecosystem. As it is, the Chinese man has been arrested and the investigation is ongoing”, Yusuf said.

Concerning the shark fins, the Customs boss informed that investigations are still going on that Nigeria waters does not have enough sharks in it for such acts to be condoled.

“The culprits have been apprehended and investigation is ongoing to know where these things come from. I know that in Nigeria waters we don’t have enough sharks that are up to this.

“This is supposed to be exported out of the country and nabbed at the point of documentation. 1,700 pieces of sharks are endangered and they are going to Hong Kong this is the first time we are seizing this in the command,” he stated.