Abuja – The Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) says it will commence the arrest and prosecution of banned chemicals and pesticide dealers to ensure safety of human lives and the environment.
The Director of the board, Mr Shehu Lawan, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
Lawan, who regretted that banned chemicals (pesticides) were still being sold in various markets in Abuja, said that sellers of those chemicals would be prosecuted at the board’s mobile court.
He added that all the chemicals would be confiscated and destroyed at the boards dump site to forestall any damage to the environment.
According to him, pests and vector control consultants within the city are being registered and they are being trained to ensure that only safe chemicals are sold and used within the city.
The director disclosed that banned chemicals were “harmful and carcinogenic’’ to human lives and the environment.
“Fumigation is part and parcel of human civilisation; and we should maintain our environment by the application of right pest control chemicals.
“Banned chemicals are not supposed to be used within the country.
“Once a wrong chemical is used, the residual chemical will be in that environment for a very long time and that will impact negatively on both the human population and the environment.
“We are now going to penalise those involved in the sale of wrong and banned chemicals,’’ he warned.
The director urged vector and pests control consultants to henceforth obtain signed certificates of fumigation from the board for every area they fumigate to ensure they used the right chemicals.
Lawan said the board had also in the same vein set up a monitoring team to constantly keep track of activities of pests and vector control sellers.
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]
He, however, called on council chairmen and town planners to help sustain the environment by ensuring free flow of the drains especially in densely populated areas.
According to him, there are lots of diseases such as cholera, malaria, dysentery and others that can be transmitted without clean environment.
“Places like food joints, motor parks, market places have to be kept clean,’’ Lawan said. (NAN)
- Latest
- Trending
