Five industries have been placed under seal by the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency due to environmental violations.
The businesses are New Shidai Manufacturing Limited, Mowe in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, Nixim Paper Limited, and Long Xiang Aluminum at the Sagamu axis of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, as well as two unregistered businesses operating unlawfully on the Ogere axis of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The Environmental Protection Agency has petitioned enterprises over their continuous release of untreated wastewater into the environment, and as a result, Ogun State Taskforce on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Chairman Farook Akintunde has shut them down. To suspend production and fix the irregularity, the agency issued a suspend Work Order to the enterprises. Nevertheless, they disregarded the directive and carried on contaminating the ecosystem by releasing toxic untreated sewage into nearby villages.
In addition, Akintunde serves as the governor’s senior special assistant for the environment.
In addition, he said, “It was discovered that they do not have Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP), which they must have and install to stop their continuous and harmful wastewater discharge. As a result, the state government was left with no choice but to shut them down in the overwhelming public interest and compel them to stop their harmful environmental practice.”
Speaking about their closure, Dr. Oluwadare Kehinde, Special Advisor to the Governor on the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA), also stated that the company will now be required, following multiple warnings, to comply by the state’s waste water regulations, which are essential to preventing water pollution and upholding water quality standards.
As stated in the Ogun State Green Book, which contains the rules governing environmental practices in the state, OGEPA will not compromise on this and will continue to demand from industries the best environmental standard in all they do, according to Kehinde. The Special Adviser stated that in order for the two unregistered firms to be permitted to function in the state, they must properly register with the state government and complete further operational requirements. These two companies were sealed along with the other three.
