Nigeria arrests suspected pangolin trafficking kingpin on the run

 

Authorities in Nigeria have arrested the suspected kingpin of a transnational pangolin trafficking network, the latest in a series of high-profile wildlife busts in the country.

Shamsideen Abubakar was linked to a September 2021 case in which authorities seized 1,009.5 kilograms (2,226 pounds) of scales in Lagos, estimated to have come from at least 5,451 pangolins. Two of his associates, Sunday Ebenyi and Salif Sandwidi, were arrested at the time, but Abubakar himself remained on the run until now.

The arrest was the result of a collaboration between Nigerian authorities and Netherlands-based NGO the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC).

“The arrest sends a strong signal to Nigeria’s illegal wildlife trafficking network that arrest warrants will be strongly pursued,” Nigeria’s National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) said in a press release.

Abubakar’s arrest follows two high-profile busts in Nigeria over the last two years. Each resulted in the seizure of several tons of pangolin scales and the arrest of suspected wildlife trafficking kingpins, including Chinese and Vietnamese nationals.

Pangolin scales are coveted in East Asia for use in traditional medicine, and the meat is eaten in Nigeria. Selling pangolins is banned in the country and internationally, but they continue to be sold on the black market for a hefty price.

Trafficking has driven all eight known pangolin species to the brink of extinction: three are listed as critically endangered, three as endangered and two as vulnerable.

The high profits and low risks involved in such wildlife crime attract transnational criminal gangs to Nigeria, a major illegal wildlife trade hub in West Africa.

To disrupt wildlife trafficking networks, Nigerian agencies partnered with WJC in 2021 to conduct long-term investigations. By 2025, that partnership had resulted in seizures of more than 25 metric tons of pangolin scales, more than a ton of elephant ivory, and the arrests of 42 suspected traffickers, with 12 convictions, according to WJC data.

“What we are seeing in Nigeria is the result of sustained, intelligence-led enforcement and strong institutional commitment,” Olivia Swaak-Goldman, WJC’s executive director, said in a press release. “The suspect thought he could evade justice, but our investigators never give up.”

Mark Ofua, West Africa representative for WildAfrica, called the arrest a “landmark victory for conservation” in an email to Mongabay. He added such high-level arrests can help authorities probe further into financial records and trafficking networks. Moreover, the coordinated arrest across multiple agencies is “a model that must be emulated at all levels,” he said.

Nigeria says it has resolved to weed out wildlife trafficking. NESREA head Innocent Barikor said in a press release his agency is “determined to ensure that Nigeria is not a safe haven for wildlife crime.” He added they will ensure “every seizure, every arrest, and every conviction is pursued with unrelenting commitment until this illicit trade is eradicated from our shores.”

By Spoorthy Raman, Mongabay

Related stories: Video - Nigeria enforces measures to curb wildlife trafficking

China jails gang for smuggling pangolin scales from Nigeria

Nigeria caps jet fuel prices to avert airline disruptions

Nigeria's government is capping jet fuel prices and allowing airlines to buy supplies on credit, according to a government document seen by Reuters, as it tries to avert flight ​disruptions caused by soaring fuel costs.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) ​said in the document that aviation fuel should sell for 1,760 ⁠naira to 1,988 naira ($1.29 to $1.46) per litre in Lagos and 1,809 naira to ​2,037 naira in Abuja, based on benchmarks from April 17 to April 23.

It warned ​that prices could still rise due to market volatility linked to the U.S.–Iran conflict and higher supplier costs.

The NMDPRA and aviation ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The decision follows ​emergency talks after airlines warned that jet fuel prices had jumped by more ​than 270%, forcing fare increases and raising the risk of capacity cuts.

President Bola Tinubu last week approved ‌30% relief ⁠on airlines' debts to aviation agencies and ordered fuel marketers, airlines and regulators to agree on a "fair" fuel price within 72 hours to prevent a sector-wide shutdown.

The talks also agreed to grant airlines a 30-day credit window to pay for fuel and ​tasked the aviation ​ministry with mediating debt ⁠disputes between operators and oil marketers, according to the document.

A technical committee convened by the NMDPRA recommended that fuel marketers sell ​directly to airlines within the indicated price range to cut ​costs and ⁠improve supply-chain transparency, the document said.

The committee also urged regulators to engage Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals over recently increased premiums applied to international benchmarks used to price jet ⁠fuel.

Other recommendations ​include validating airside fuel distributors with adequate infrastructure - ​potentially reducing the number of authorised suppliers at airports - and considering jet fuel for Nigeria's naira-for-crude initiative to ​limit airlines' foreign exchange exposure.

By Isaac Anyaogu, Reuters

Gunmen kill at least 29 in northeast Nigeria after targeting young people at football pitch

Gunmen have killed at least 29 people in northeastern Nigeria, a state governor said Monday, with locals saying the attackers targeted young people gathered at a football pitch, the latest bout of deadly unrest in Africa's most populous nation.

The attack on Sunday occurred in Adamawa state, which borders Cameroon and is a hotspot for violence by jihadists and local criminal gangs. Communal violence over land is also rife in the state.

The latest attack comes as Nigeria's security crisis is increasingly under scrutiny – both abroad and at home as general elections are less than a year away.

Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri visited the scene of the Sunday attack and "confirmed that no fewer than 29 people were killed in a deadly attack on Guyaku community in Gombi Local Government Area", his spokesman said in a post on social media.

Locals also gave a similar toll.

Resident Philip Agabus told AFP that the attack occurred when "our people converged at a football pitch in Guyaku community ... [and] were attacked by insurgents who entered with guns and began shooting randomly".

The dead were "youths, including some ladies that were watching football", another local, Joshua Usman, said.

"They also burnt places of worship, houses and motorcycles," added Usman.

The state governor's office wrote that "the attackers operated for several hours, killing dozens of residents, burning places of worship, and destroying property including motorcycles", citing a local community leader, Aggrey Ali.

Local television showed footage of a burned church and several charred motor cycles.

The governor blamed the Boko Haram militants who are active in the northeast of Nigeria.

But a rival group, the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it "killed at least 25 ... Christians", and "torched a church and nearly 100 motorcycles", in a statement reported by the SITE monitoring group.

Fintiri condemned the attack, saying "it will not go unpunished" while he vowed "intensifying security operations immediately to restore peace".

Since 2009, the jihadist insurgency in Nigeria, led primarily by Boko Haram and its rival faction, the ISWAP, has left tens of thousands of people dead and millions displaced in the country's northeast, according to the United Nations.

The jihadist conflict has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Nigeria is now looking to the United States for technical and training support for its troops fighting the jihadists after a resurgence of violence strained relationships between the two countries.

US President Donald Trump said last October that Christianity was facing an "existential threat" in the West African nation. Security experts say that both Muslim and Christian communities are targeted by armed groups.

A separate attack occurred Sunday in a another district more 100 kilometres away which a local community blamed on communal clashes over farmland disputes in several villages in Lamurde area.

"Lives were lost, properties were also lost," Bulus Daniel, local government council chairman for Lamurde area told AFP.

AFP

Gunmen raid Nigerian orphanage and kidnap children

Eight children are still missing after gunmen raided an unregistered orphanage in Nigeria's north-central Kogi State and kidnapped 23, authorities have said.

Kogi's information commissioner Kingsley Fanwo said 15 children were rescued due to the "prompt and coordinated response" of security agencies.

Sunday's attack also saw the owner of the facility taken, he added.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but security sources say the state has a functional Boko Haram cell, and that there have been several violent attacks in the area.

Nigeria is also grappling with a kidnap crisis in many parts of the country, with criminal gangs abducting people for ransoms. The government has made paying ransoms illegal but this has not prevented the kidnappings.

"The government remains fully committed to ensuring the rescue of all the victims," Fanwo said.

His statement on Monday also highlighted that the orphanage was "operating illegally" in a "bushy environment" without the knowledge of relevant authorities.

Fanwo urged operators of orphanages, schools, and similar institutions to always engage appropriately with the appropriate government agencies "especially in the current security climate".

Mass kidnappings in schools are not uncommon in Nigeria, especially in the country's northern region which is currently plagued by insecurity. This is the first time an orphanage has been targeted.

In November 2025, more than 300 students and their teachers were abducted from one Catholic Secondary School in Niger State, also in the north central region of Nigeria.

They were released in two batches with the last group regaining freedom more than one month after.

The government denied reports that any ransom had been paid, or that two Boko Haram commanders had been freed as part of the deal.

By Chukwunaeme Obiejesi, BBC

Jet fuel crisis: a boon for Nigeria's Dangote, but not for local airlines

Nigeria's giant Dangote refinery is benefiting from record margins for producing jet fuel that it is mostly selling abroad, while the domestic airlines it also supplies have threatened ​to stop flying because of the surge in fuel prices.

The refinery, the largest on the continent, was built to turn Africa's biggest oil producing ‌country into a net exporter of refined products, end Nigeria's reliance on fuel imports, and shield its economy from global energy shocks.

It became fully operational at the start of this year and is producing at its maximum capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

That has improved local fuel availability but domestic fuel prices are still among the highest in Africa as Nigeria's market is fully deregulated, meaning fuel prices are ​not subsidised by the government as they are in most African countries.

The issue is further complicated by the state oil company's long-standing debt repayment agreements that ​mean Dangote has to import most of its crude oil, making it easier to balance its books if it sells abroad.

CLASH WITH ⁠THE NEEDS OF THE AVIATION INDUSTRY

Industry body the Airline Operators of Nigeria said prices, taking logistics and storage costs into account, have climbed to 3,300 naira ($2.44) per litre, ​nearly triple the level in February before the start of the Iran war.

Nigeria's energy regulator said Dangote was selling jet fuel at 1,879 naira ($1.39) per litre, little changed from imported fuel ​prices of about 1,900 naira ($1.41) per litre delivered to Lagos earlier this month.

The Middle Eastern conflict has led to unprecedented energy disruption and the risk of jet fuel shortages is pressing. Airlines around the world have hiked prices, added fuel surcharges and grounded planes.

Nigerian airlines last week threatened to halt all flights, prompting the government on Thursday to approve measures including some relief on debts owed by local airlines ​and ordering talks to try to agree lower prices.

DANGOTE'S MARGINS COULD BE EVEN BETTER?

Dangote, meanwhile, as a new, highly efficient refinery, has been able to take advantage of record margins ​for producing jet fuel from crude.

Its profits could be even higher if it could rely on Nigerian crude and avoid almost all freight costs.

State oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s ‌joint‑venture crude, ⁠however, is tied to oil-backed loans and pre‑export deals.

That means much of Nigeria's roughly 1.5 million barrels per day of production goes to paying debts to international oil majors, banks and traders. The NNPC does not disclose its obligations, but analysts estimate they amount to about 400,000 bpd.

Dangote Group Vice President Davekumar Edwin said Dangote imported most of its crude from the U.S., as well as some from other African producers and Brazil. He did not give precise figures.

He said the bulk of the 24 million litres of jet ​fuel it produces daily was shipped to Europe, ​although he also said the refinery ⁠largely supplied the needs of Nigerian airlines, which the aviation industry estimates at about 2.1 million litres per day.


EUROPEAN BUYERS ARE WILLING TO PAY UP

As European buyers are willing to pay a premium ahead of the peak demand summer travel season, European imports from ​Nigeria have averaged 78,000 to 96,000 barrels per day in April so far, data from Kpler and LSEG showed, the highest ​on record.

Alan Gelder, senior ⁠vice president for refining, chemicals and oil markets at Wood Mackenzie, said European refiners had earned about $15 per barrel.

He estimated Dangote's margins at more than double that as a result of access to Nigerian crude and the plant's scale and sophistication. Edwin did not disclose figures, but the profits from producing jet fuel hit a record on international markets in March.

Dangote, as ⁠a private refinery, ​prices its products in response to global markets, Gelder said, and that building a big refinery "does not ​automatically mean fuel prices fall".

Dangote plans to list shares in the coming months and is expanding the complex to 1.4 million bpd capacity, which could make it the world's largest refinery by the end of the ​decade.

By Macdonald Dzirutwe, Reuters