Two slammed prison sentences for chimp skulls trafficking

Two people have been sentenced by the Abong Mbang Court of First Instance for trafficking in skulls following their arrest and trail that lasted two months.

The case against the two was called up by the Abong Court of First Instance on August 9, 2016 and the accused were found guilty, sentenced to 4 months imprisonment while ordered to pay fines and damages amounting to over four million CFA francs. Charges brought against them included illegal possession, circulation and killing of chimpanzees that is a totally protected wildlife species. 13 chimpanzee skulls were found in their possession during an operation carried out on June 8, 2016 by wildlife officials of the Upper Nyong Divisional Delegation with the support of the Gendarmerie..

After reading out the sentence, the judge took some time to explain to the convicted traffickers the meaning of the ruling saying you have been sent to serve a prison sentence of four months and he equally explained the financial punishment to them. The two moody-faced convicts stood staring at the judge as he read out the sentence. One of them wore a white shirt on shorts while the other had a grey shirt on slim trousers. They had been dragged to court that morning, handcuffed with other inmates who trekked the short distance that separated the Abong Mbang prison from the court premises

Bikom Adjap Bertrand and Medibe Dieudonne Simplice both were arrested in Abong Mbang after travelling from Somalomo a localty close to the Dja Faunal Reserve to sell the chimpanzee skulls which they had carefully packaged to avoid detection. The traffickers who were three,- one of them failed to make the long journey to Abong Mbang and so escaped arrest, revealed that the small group ferried chimpanzee meat regularly from the Somalomo to Abong Mbang and as far as the commercial centre –Yaounde, for sale. This had been going on for a while before their arrest but the business is illegal and accounts for the decline in chimpanzee populations in the country.

Chimpanzees are totally protected wildlife species by the 1994 wildlife law which stipulates that anyone found in possession of parts of a protected wildlife species is considered to have killed the animal. The aim is to protect animals like the chimpanzee that is facing serious problems with poaching as 32 chimpanzee skulls have been seized since the beginning of this year during operations carried out under the framework of the wildlife law enforcement initiative started by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) in 2003 to effectively enforce the laws. MINFOF is working hard to ensure that those responsible for the slaughter and sale of chimpanzee parts are prosecuted because their acts infringe the wildlife law.