In service to the High Court of Yokadouma in the eastern region, they are currently serving a term of imprisonment of three years for each. It is precisely the named Placide Ekel and Rodrigue Metindi who were arrested October 10, 2014, with two spikes of ivory in a vehicle headed in the direction of Yaoundé. Indeed, this is a new step that has just been taken the fight against poaching in this part of Cameroon. The two men who were intercepted while traveling by service gendarmes have not had the chance to move their goods.
And translated to the Court of Appeal of Bertoua, they will be condemned, despite an appeal. Facts that come to bare about trafficking in tusks? Ivories practice good run in this zone. In addition to above mentioned case, the High Court Yokadouma is currently experiencing a high volume of cases of poaching and ivory trafficking that are registered in the region of East Cameroon. The possession of this item is explained by the clerks.
According to reports, in the case of seized these tips of ivory, the law requires that property be filed as exhibits with the services of registrars of courts to be produced as evidence in court during the trial. These products are in principle to be sealed up to them to be returned to the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife Custodian of state interests in this matter. The case of the two clerks sufficiently demonstrates the extent of this illegal activity.
“This case illustrates the extent of the ivory trade and elephant poaching in the early stage, these criminal networks increasingly organized involving property, not only traditional poachers , but also those who are commonly called poachers to white collar as is the case of these two clerks convicted,” said Laurent Granier, Director of Conservation of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Cameroon. Further, he maintains, “This decision of historical justice also demonstrates the determination of the judiciary in Cameroon to fight against ivory trafficking and corruption, and even in the courts.” To carry out this battle for the protection of wildlife and nature, several means are put in place to deter all outlaws. And given the profile of offenders involved this time, the WWF supported the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife in monitoring. Similarly, to reduce the risk of theft and strange disappearances in the departments in charge of the seals, the WWF and Traffic, organizations specializing in wildlife monitoring, supported the MINFOF.
Efforts in this process are already bearing fruit, namely the recovery of some 354 whole points and more than 205 pieces from ivory services in charge of the implementation of the wildlife law East, South, and of coastal regions and the Southwest in 2015. These are actions that fall straight in the implementation of the National Action Plan on Ivory (PANI), prescribed by the Convention on International trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2014.