Nigerian officials have seized a whopping 7,000 donkey penises that were expected to be transported to Hong Kong, it has been revealed. Sambo Dangaladima, who is the Nigeria Customs Service area commander, shared to the BBC that 16 sacks of donkey genitals were taken to the Murtala Muhammed airport in Lagos and falsely declared as the private parts of a cow.
But following an examination, it was discovered that the sacks were, in fact, filled with donkey genitals worth an estimated $480,000, which were trying to be smuggled over to Hong Kong. Dangaladima recalled there being a “pungent smell” coming from the bags, which instantly raised suspicion with officers who went ahead and investigated the packages, during which time the suspect was believed to have fled from the airport. The shipment of donkey parts between Nigeria and China has become a lucrative business for some people, particularly those who sell either donkey skin or its genital parts in bulk.
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News of the disturbing report comes just months after customs in Nigeria had also confiscated a colossal $116,000 worth of donkey skins in June that had been flown in from Niger. Countries such as China are believed to use these animal parts for their popular traditional medicines, but the killing of donkeys is quickly seeing these particular animals in Nigeria facing extinction because they do not breed in large numbers due to their low fertility rate.
Also, in March, four people were arrested after attempting to smuggle more than 2,500 donkey penises and over 3100 pieces of skin to another country — a plan which failed as Nigerian customs caught on to the situation fairly quickly and took the individuals to jail.
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“The major beneficiary in this trade is the donkey (skin) merchants in China,” federal lawmaker Muhammad Datti expressed amid his ongoing plans to propose a full-time ban on slaughtering donkeys for the sole purpose of financial benefits.
According to the Daily Mail, Nigeria had already lost almost $7 billion as the illegal trades of donkey parts continued to skyrocket in large amounts between 2012 and 2018. It is very much prohibited from engaging in such acts, with The Donkey Dealers Association of Nigeria urging the government to start taking stricter guidelines and rules.