The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Nigeria’s environmental regulator, on Thursday ordered the immediate closure of several battery recycling plants in Ogijo, Ogun State, after inspections revealed ongoing practices that put residents and workers at risk of lead poisoning.
The agency, in partnership with the Ogun State Government, said the affected facilities repeatedly ignored the National Environmental (Battery Control) Regulations, 2024, which require safe handling of used lead-acid batteries, a hazardous waste stream linked to severe health complications.
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The latest action comes against the background of a two-part investigation, published by PREMIUM TIMES, The Examination, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates global health threats, and other media partners. The investigation revealed unsafe working conditions and widespread lead contamination in Ogijo, a community that borders Lagos and Ogun states.
Under the law, operators are expected to install functioning effluent treatment systems, properly store toxic slag, and limit harmful emissions. They are also mandated to run annual medical tests for workers exposed to lead and conduct environmental audits in surrounding communities.
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But officials said those obligations were routinely flouted.
According to NESREA in an X post on Thursday, the agency’s inspectors reported the continued discharge of untreated, lead-contaminated wastewater into nearby land, widespread escape of lead dust due to poor ventilation, and hazardous slag left in open piles or illegally diverted for use in landfilling and construction.
“The recyclers, as duty to the host community and environmental responsibility are to conduct annual environmental impact audits on surrounding communities, transition to cleaner recycling technologies and participate in pilot projects for slag reuse for bricks and cement raw materials,” the statement read.
The agency said its inspectors also found that many workers handling toxic materials lacked protective gear, while the facilities failed to provide updated permits and environmental reports required by law.
NESREA noted that the clampdown followed months of technical assistance and warnings issued to operators through the Project for Responsible Battery and Metal Recycling (PROBAMET), a collaboration involving government agencies and industry partners.
It said despite those engagements and a grace period to upgrade operations, officials said violations persisted, threatening public health in Ogijo, a community that has previously complained of pollution linked to recycling activities.
“Despite these extensive engagements and the moratorium provided for operators to upgrade their technology, the Agency’s inspections have continued to reveal serious environmental violations of the National Environmental (Battery Control) Regulations, 2024 (S.I. No. 11),” it stated.
NESREA’s earlier seal-up action
In the second part of our investigation, PREMIUM TIMES had reported NESREA’s seal-up exercise that took place on 17 September.
On its website, the agency had announced the closure of nine recycling facilities in Ogijo, including True Metals, for environmental pollution.
NESREA’s Director-General, Innocent Barikor, said the “improper disposal of hazardous slag from battery recycling” among other violations, was the reason for the exercise.
However, residents grew increasingly concerned after the facilities resumed operations and the pollution persisted.
When asked why the recycling facilities reopened, the NESREA boss said a meeting held in Abuja between the agency and the battery lead recycling companies prompted the re-opening of the facilities.
“Our meeting was very, very, very fruitful. We are giving them a protocol. Some of them were beginning to take measures to address this protocol on how to begin to deal with some of their environmental concerns.
“That meeting provided us to understand their own problems, the issue of technology, their ability to quickly advance a technology that will reduce some of these challenges. We all discussed this together,” he told the New York Times and The Examination in an interview.
He said part of the issues discussed were the technological challenges the companies struggle with, and a protocol to be implemented within a time frame.
“The first thing we are going to do is to now collectively ensure that the legacy slags are removed. The first open action that will be cited by the public community will be the removal of the slag. That cannot take place until there is an identification of a dump site that is certified by the government. We need to work with the state to do that,” he added.
What our investigation found
Our two-part investigative report revealed that the lead recycling factories in Ogijo have poisoned the very air residents breathe and the soil where children play.
Scientists collected 70 blood samples from factory workers and residents, finding that every worker tested showed dangerous lead exposure, with some levels as high as 38 µg/dL, which is many times above the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit.
Children in the community were not spared; eight out of 14 tested children had blood-lead levels exceeding five µg/dL, a threshold that health experts say poses serious risks to cognitive development.
Soil and dust samples collected around homes, farms, and a nearby school also showed catastrophic levels of contamination. In one school playground, the soil contained more than 1,900 ppm of lead, almost five times the level of many international safety limits.
Residents and workers reported chronic illnesses and symptoms consistent with lead poisoning, such as recurring stomach pains, fatigue, and poor concentration. Some families described their lives as being slowly suffocated by the black soot from the factory chimneys, fearing that their children’s futures had been stolen by a toxic smoke emitted by these factories.
Inside the plants, workers described a routine of crude, unsafe practices where used batteries are smashed by hand or with axes, molten lead is handled without adequate protective gear, and waste slag and lead dust are left exposed, allowing toxic particles to wash into soil or drift into the air.
The investigation also revealed that True Metals Nigeria Limited had been exporting recycled lead to buyers across Europe, Asia, and the United States, including the American commodities firm Trafigura Trading LLC. Following the report, East Penn Manufacturing, one of the largest battery makers in the US, said it would immediately stop importing lead from Nigeria, saying it had tightened scrutiny on all suppliers in its global chain.
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The revelations also triggered sweeping regulatory action. The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) sealed nine recycling facilities, including True Metals, after inspectors confirmed widespread breaches of the 2024 Battery Control Regulations, ranging from unsafe smelting practices to uncontrolled toxic emissions.
Earlier in the week, the Federal Government shut down True Metals Nigeria Limited, one of the battery recycling companies in the Ogijo community.
