The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has sealed a Kano-based company for violating environmental laws.
The company, Aspire Nigeria Limited located along Hadejia Road in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state, was sealed by the North West Zonal Director, Mudaishir Raheem, and his team on Friday, April 28, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
One of the offenses alleged to have been committed by the company is the disposal of waste and untreated effluents into the environment.
“Today, we have come to seal this company for not complying with some relevant environmental laws, such as the disposal of their waste and untreated effluents.
“We are expected to manage the environment and not to destroy it.
“If we must site a company, we are expected to follow and comply with relevant laws put in place to protect the integrity of the environment,” Raheem said.
According to Raheem, the company, Aspira, was issued compliance notice thrice but the facility owners failed to comply.
“We have issued compliance notice thrice; also, we issued two abatement notices as a warning, but the facility owners failed to comply and we have no option than to apply the law.”
The NESREA zonal director further explained that the company was expected to correct the anomalies before it can be unsealed.
Raheem said there was non-availability of a Functional Effluent Treatment Plant in the company and as such it discharged wastewater into the environment.
“Parameters such as pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Total Dissolved Solids, Turbidity, and Appearance were not within NESREA Permissible Standards during the In-Situ Analysis of the Wastewater at the outlet of the Company,” he stressed.
The NESREA official noted that all the offenses constituted a threat to the environment (water bodies, land, neighbouring communities).
He added that the enforcement (sealing) exercise was necessitated by the company’s non-compliance with the timeline on the Abatement Notice issued on April 19, 2023.
NAN
