The Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) has urged the Ogun State Government to declare the Ogijo community in Sagamu Local Council a “contaminated site,” following an investigation by the New York Times and a non-profit newsroom – The Examination, which revealed that indiscriminately sited lead-recycling factories have caused widespread lead poisoning in the community.

Aside from pollution of the soil and air in the environment, the investigation, released on November 18, showed that factory workers operate under hazardous working conditions, resulting in dangerously high blood lead levels. Every tested worker was found to be poisoned, with one recording a level as high as 38 micrograms per deciliter, considered severely elevated by World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

In a statement in Lagos, RDI laid the blame for the contamination of the environment solely on the doorstep of the Ogun State Government, insisting that decades of poor urban planning, coupled with a lack of monitoring and effective regulation of the operations of the lead recycling plants, have culminated in a dangerous interaction between the surrounding communities and dangerous chemicals from the recycling firms.

The state’s Commissioner for the Environment, Ola Oresanya, who appeared on Television Continental on Monday, December 1, 2025, said the state government needed to confirm the “alleged lead poisoning” and would test 500 people to arrive at its own conclusions.

But RDI Executive Director, Philip Jakpor, said: “While the Ogun State government is still describing the findings in Ogijo as an allegation, we must not lose sight that the abdication of responsibility by the state in regulating the activities of the recycling firms is the cause of the entire crisis in the first place. The flurry of face-saving activities that they have been embarking upon since the New York Times report was published is like trying to shut the barn after the horse has escaped.”

Jakpor, however, alerted that the scale of the lead poisoning might be far worse than reported, even as he demanded that the state government must ensure that the environment and health audits it is carrying out must be extensive, thorough, transparent, and made public.

“The Ogijo residents and affected workers in the identified firms deserve nothing but a comprehensive health and environment audit. We demand that the tests adhere to the global best standard, as anything short of that will not be accepted,” he further stated.

He said that the shutdown of the operations of seven lead-acid battery recycling firms in the community is a good move, but urged the state government to refuse any pressure that would deter it from carrying out a detailed investigation of the situation in the community.

“Ogijo should be declared a contaminated site. We have said it time and again that the quest for profits at the expense of the people will always lead to systemic dangers, environmental degradation, a weakening of social structures, and, in this case, pure disregard for human life and safety.

“Officials of agencies of government found culpable of dereliction of duty in relation to monitoring and regulating the activities of the identified firms should be appropriately sanctioned. In the same vein, firms found culpable of wilful exposure of Nigerians to hazards in their production processes and management of waste must be shut and made to bear the full cost of the fallouts,” Jakpor insisted.