NAN-AE-5
Programme
By Vivian Emoni
Abuja, June 8, 2017 (NAN) Dr Lawrence Anukam, the Director-General of National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), says the Interpol programme, which the agency joined, will deal with environmental crimes across the country.
Anukam, who said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, noted that the Interpol (International Criminal Police Organisation) programme, in efforts to achieve the goal, had set up committees on various activities.
He said that NESREA signed up for the Interpol programme in Lyon, France, to curtail the importation of electronic waste (e-waste) via an alert system that would expose any ship trying to bring in e-waste into the country.
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“We developed a regulation; at the moment there is a regulation on e-waste to regulate and control the importation of e-waste into the country, and also to manage the e-waste we generate.
“We also developed a process where we register all importers of used electronics just to make sure that what is being brought in is not end-of-life; that is the real e-waste.
“We are not discouraging people from bringing used items but let it be clear that what is being brought into the country will be only very functional equipment.
“A situation where the country is used as a dumping ground for all sorts of electronic waste, that is not good for us.
“So we have come up with the regulation and we are implementing it too.
“So, Nigeria is very much involved in the environmental crime aspect of the Interpol programme and that has helped us in checking that aspect of environmental crime within our borders.’’
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He said that the programme also had a strong component, which was designed to stem wildlife trafficking and pollution crimes.
Anukam said that the Interpol programme had set up a committee to discuss environmental crime and the way forward.
He said that a board meeting was also organised via teleconferencing, where the participating countries communicated and discussed issues relating to the aspects of the Interpol programme dealing with environmental crime.
Anukam said that NESREA registered importers of used electronics so as to ensure that the electronic gadgets imported into the country were not harmful to the people’s health as well as the environment.
He said that the agency was also collaborating with international sister agencies to ensure that containers containing hazardous e-waste were apprehended and sent back to their countries of origin.
Besides, the director-general said that NESREA had good working relations with international agencies such as United Kingdom Environmental Agency, United States Importation and Environmental Agency as well as Interpol.
“We are working closely with the agencies through their alert system; we exchange information, even security information, to track down e-waste in Nigeria.
“We believe that through these activities, the reckless importation of e-waste into Nigeria will be reduced to a great extent; sincerely, lot of progress has been made so far,’’ he added. (NAN)
VOE/OOK/YEE
Edited by Oladayo Komolafe/Emmanuel Yashim
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