NESREA shuts down 75 non-compliant companies

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has shut down 75 non-compliant facilities over the past eight months, calling on companies and factories to comply with environmental laws.

Director General Dr. Innocent Barikor revealed this while receiving a brief on the routine compliance monitoring carried out across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), expressing displeasure over the flagrant disregard for laid-down regulations by companies.

Barikor also warned the firms to desist from polluting the environment by ensuring their facilities meet international standards, urging them to address compliance gaps in their operations to avoid sanctions.

He said, “We keep noticing a worrisome trend where some facilities discharge effluents without treatment, operate without the necessary environmental documents such as Environmental Impact Statements, Environmental Audits, and Environmental Permits. This cannot be allowed.”

He further stressed that facilities where these infractions occurred have been issued notices of compliance concerns to abate the nuisance. The Agency will not hesitate to sanction any facility polluting the environment.

“We are the foremost environmental enforcement Agency in the country, charged with the responsibility of enforcing all standards, protocols, treaties, and conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory,” he added, maintaining:”In line with our mandate, we have developed 36 Environmental Regulations cutting across different sectors of the economy. They are the tools deployed by the Agency to ensure that the activities of industries do not in any way impact negatively on the environment.”