By Walter Wilson Nana
A soldier has been caught poaching inside the Korup National Park in Ndian Division, Southwest Region of Cameroon. Chief Sergeant, David Severin Ayi, has been apprehended for possessing carcasses of three Blue Duikers, a Hornbill, a Rosette-eared monkey and a Galago inside the park recently. This follows a 10-day long anti-poaching operation by forest rangers of Korup, led by the park warden (Conservator) Pascal Dongmo.
After pleading guilty before the High Court of Ndian on October 5, the presiding judge, Tarle Mukete ordered the accused to pay a fine of $900 (FCFA 387,000,) failing which he would serve a prison term of three years seven months. Ayi, who is a marine of Cameroon’s 22nd Battalion, stationed in Ndian Division, paid the fine and was released. However, State Prosecutors Porters Nji and Ibrahima Abba, have said they will appeal the court’s verdict describing it as lenient.
While praising the efforts of forest rangers trained and deployed to the field by Cameroon’s Ministry of Forest and Wildlife, to uphold the law, conservation organisations are appalled by the leniency of the court. “Cameroon law is clear – in such a case of killing of a protected species inside a protected area the law requires a fine ranging up to $7142 (from FCFA 1 to 3 million) and or imprisonment from 1 to 3 years. In this case, a government employee, charged with upholding law and order and protecting state property should have been given a severe sentence well above the minimum,” growled David Hoyle, Director of Conservation for WWF Cameroon. “Such a weak sentence will only encourage rather than deter poachers from pursuing their illegal activities,” he added.