The Save Andoni Forest Elephant and Ecosystem Initiative (SAFE-i) has pointed out the importance of governments at all levels to implement measures to protect wildlife.
Gogo Ujile, the director of SAFE-i, made this known during a press briefing with journalists in Port Harcourt. He highlighted the organisation’s collaboration with local fishermen, hunters, and other stakeholders to safeguard wildlife and promote the tourism potential of the Andoni area.
Mr Ujile further stated that their commitment to building a sustainable marine ecosystem in Andoni is evident and cited a recent incident where a dolphin was inadvertently caught at a seashore in Ikuru Town on April 18, 2024.
According to him, with prompt logistics from the local government chairman, Mr Erastus Awortu, we recovered the mammal.
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“Unfortunately, at the time of arrival at the seashore, the dolphin had died due to a lack of facilities to resuscitate it. However, we were able to recover the entire carcass as a specimen and I am glad to have the representative of the government to witness a public dolphin morphometric analysis,” he said.
The director of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Fiibite Bibi, commended SAFE-i for conserving marine endangered species in Andoni and the state.
The director expressed the state government’s resolve to partner with organisations to dissuade fishermen from hunting endangered sea mammals.
Victor Otuka, the curator of the National Museum and Monuments in the state, noted the agency’s commitment to conserving the people’s tangible and intangible heritage.
“The National Museum, Port Harcourt, is already providing technical support to the Unyeada Fishing Festival ‘Ijok-irin’, a cultural festival of the Andoni (Obolo) people,” he said.
