The Director General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations NESREA, Dr. Innocent Barikor, has warned facilities to address compliance gaps in their operations to avoid sanctions.
Dr. Barikor, who gave the warning while receiving a brief on the routine compliance monitoring carried out by NESREA across the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT, expressed displeasure over the flagrant disregard for laid down environmental laws by facilities.
He said the agency kept noticing a worrisome trend where some facilities discharge effluent without treatment and operate without the necessary environmental documents such as Environmental Impact Statement, Environmental Audit, and Environmental Permit. This cannot be allowed.
“Facilities where these infractions occurred have been issued notices of compliance concerns to abate the nuisance. "
He said NESREA will not hesitate to sanction any facility that pollutes the environment. From January to date, the agency has shut 75 non-compliant facilities.
He noted that the enforcement is a continuous exercise.
Dr. Barikor said that the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) is the foremost environmental enforcement agency in the country, charged with enforcing all standards, protocols, treaties, and conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory.
He emphasized that 36 National Environmental Regulations have been developed in line with the agency's mandate, cutting across different sectors of the economy.
These regulations, he said, are the tools deployed by the agency to ensure that facilities and industries adhere to sustainability standards.
