NESREA Seals 6 Ogun Recycling Facilities, Abuja Quarry Over Environmental Violations
By: Abudu Olalekan
You won’t believe what went down in Ogun and Abuja this week. NESREA, those environmental watchdogs, literally rolled in with seals and padlocks. Six recycling plants in Ogijo got shut tight, and one quarry in Dutse, Abuja, joined the party. People are shaken. Kids got hurt. And honestly? It was long overdue.
Let’s start in Ogijo. Six companies—Hanuchi Manufacturing Ltd, BPL Nigeria Ltd, Metal Manufacturing Nig. Ltd, Vendanta Nigeria Ltd, African Non-Ferrous Industrial Ltd, and True Metal Nig. Ltd—were caught red-handed messing up big time with used lead acid batteries. We’re talking ULABs, the kind that leak lead like it’s going out of style. These plants were supposed to follow the National Environmental (Battery Control) Regulations 2024. They didn’t. Not even close.
Mrs. Nwamaka Ejiofor, NESREA’s Assistant Director of Press, dropped the statement on Thursday, 27 November 2025. She wasn’t playing. “These facilities failed to manage ULAB slag and base metal residue responsibly,” she said. Translation? They were dumping toxic crap without care. No proper PPE for workers. No annual blood lead tests. Nothing. Just profit over people.
NESREA didn’t just wake up angry. They’d been working with Ogun State Ministry of Environment and running sensitisation under the PROBAMET project for months. They begged these companies to do better. Showed them international best practices. Gave them chances. But nah. Some people only listen when the gates get chained.
So NESREA sealed them. All six. Done. No more recycling until they learn how to do it without poisoning the community.
Now, let’s talk Abuja. This one’s wild.
Cornerstone facility, run by Istanbul Quarry in Dutse, decided Wednesday afternoon was perfect for blasting rocks. Right next to Graceland High School. Kids were writing exams. 12:30 pm. Sudden massive bang. Rocks flying everywhere. School buildings smashed. Eleven students injured. Two staff members hurt. Even nearby shops got wrecked.
Glory Uboh, NESREA’s Deputy Director of Conservation Monitoring, was livid. “What happened is life-threatening,” she said. “That’s why we moved in immediately and sealed the place.”
She added that preliminary checks already show the quarry broke every rule in the National Environmental (Quarrying and Blasting Operations) Regulations 2013. Contradictions everywhere. They’re going to get sanctioned hard. Investigations are ongoing, but the seal stays until they prove they won’t nearly kill school kids again.
Look, this isn’t just bureaucracy. This is real life. Lead poisoning messes you up slow—brain damage, kidney failure, kids losing IQ points they can never get back. And flying rocks during exams? That’s attempted murder by negligence.
NESREA is sending a message loud and clear: play with the environment, play with people’s lives, and we’re coming for you. No more gentle warnings. Seals first, questions later.
Reportersroom.com/nesrea-ogun-abuja-seal
