Lead In Their Blood: How Battery Recyclers Are Poisoning Nigerians
Some of the factories in Ogijo, once symbols of job opportunities and communal progress, have become agents of quiet destruction, poisoning the soil, water, and people in the community.
Around 10 a.m. on the sunny Friday morning of 17 September, about 30 residents of Ogijo, a sprawling industrial community in Sagamu LGA, which lies on the border of Lagos and Ogun State, gathered at the Ogijo Health Centre to collect the results of their Blood Lead Level (BLL) test. As the sun baked the skin with mild intensity, they trickled into the community health facility, some with their children in tow. Tension filled the air as the residents clustered in groups to discuss their fate in subdued voices.
Months earlier, in July, their blood samples had been drawn to check for traces of lead through BLL, which refers to the concentration of lead in a person’s blood, measured in micrograms per decilitre (image.png), to assess lead exposure and its health risks. Now, the results would reveal whether the dust and smoke emitted by lead recycling companies in the Ogijo community had poisoned them.
53-year-old Thomas Ede and his three children, all under the age of 11, were among the 70 Ogijo residents whose blood samples had been drawn for testing. Mr Ede, a single father, lives 500 metres from True Metals Nigeria Limited, one of the companies that recycle used batteries for lead export in Ogijo.
For over 15 years, Mr Ede had called the Ogijo community home, long before True Metals began operations in the community. But about a decade ago, when the company began operations, he observed as thick black smoke from the factory’s chimneys travelled through the skies and settled daily on every possible surface, rooftops, crops, clothes, and even cooking pots. Lately, he had begun to fear that the pollution from True Metals and similar factories in the area had seeped into his family members’ bodies.
A drive around Ogijo reveals the vulnerability of its environment through the smell in the air. During the day, the atmosphere feels heavy, as if every breath carries a film of dust. At night, residents say the smoke burns their throats and leaves a bitter taste that lingers till the next morning. These recycling factories, once symbols of job opportunities and communal progress, have become agents of quiet destruction, poisoning the soil, air, and people of Ogijo.
At the community health centre, lines of worry cut across Mr Ede’s face as he sat amid a small crowd, waiting to be called.
Hours later, his name was read out and his worst fears were confirmed. He and all three of his children have traces of lead in their blood. But the result that broke him was that of his eldest child, eleven-year-old Freeman, whose blood showed dangerously high lead concentration at 28.47 micrograms per decilitre, more than five times the level considered safe by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“I am really worried,” Mr Ede told PREMIUM TIMES in an interview at his residence, a one-room apartment. “I know that a lot of damage has been done to his body because of the high level of lead in his blood.”
“He has been having some symptoms, such as frequent cases of malaria and typhoid, as well as a distended stomach. His stomach is always big, no matter how little he eats,” Mr Ede added. Doctors familiar with lead poisoning explain that “distended stomach” can occur when the liver and digestive system are under stress, a common complication among children exposed to heavy metals.
Since his wife left him due to financial difficulties, Mr Ede has been raising his three children alone. He works as a farmhand, earning just enough to keep food on the table.
Most of what he makes goes toward rent for their small, single-room apartment and toward keeping Freeman and his siblings in school. When the blood test results came back showing dangerous levels of lead, it felt like one more blow, another reminder that survival in Ogijo comes at a cost.
Lead, a toxic heavy metal, is released into the environment during informal battery recycling. When used batteries are burned or melted, they contaminate the surrounding soil, air, and water.
The resulting fine lead dust spreads through the wind and onto household surfaces. Once inhaled or ingested, especially by children, it enters the bloodstream and accumulates in organs such as the brain, liver, and kidneys.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is no safe level of lead exposure. Blood-lead levels above 5 µg/dL and soil concentrations over 400 mg/kg are considered hazardous, yet many contaminated communities exceed these limits many times over.
Worse still, studies have linked lead exposure to lower intelligence quotient, learning difficulties, and behavioural problems. A 2020 UNICEF and Pure Earth report found that children with blood lead levels as low as five micrograms per decilitre scored up to five points lower on intelligence tests than their unexposed peers, providing evidence that no amount of lead is safe.
Sadly, Freeman’s blood isn’t the only one contaminated with lead poisoning.
Science of Poisoning
To understand what was happening to Freeman and dozens of other families, The Examination, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates global health threats, in partnership with PREMIUM TIMES, Joy FM, Pambazuko and Truth Reporting Post, launched an investigation and commissioned an independent scientific study to measure lead levels in the soil, as well as in the blood of workers and residents living in Ogijo community. The findings of the investigation show massive lead poisoning of humans and the environment in Ogijo.
Between April and June, environmental health researchers collected blood, nasal swabs, and soil samples to measure the scale of lead contamination. In total, 70 residents, including children, adults, and factory workers, were tested for blood lead levels (BLL).
Independent laboratory tests on blood samples from residents of Ogijo and factory workers reveal widespread and dangerous exposure to lead. A report prepared by the Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev Nigeria), a non-governmental environmental health organisation, found that among factory workers, the average blood-lead concentration was around 20 micrograms per decilitre (µg/dL), four times higher than the WHO’s reference limit of 5 µg/dL. Every worker was poisoned, with some recording readings as high as 38 µg/dL.
Children, who are the most vulnerable to lead poisoning, also showed alarming results. Their average level stood at roughly 12 µg/dL, with nearly three-quarters of the children tested exceeding the WHO guideline. 11-year-old Freeman’s blood contained over five times the maximum level considered safe.
Among other adult residents who do not work in the factories, lead levels averaged about 9 µg/dL, nearly double the WHO limit. For comparison, control samples collected from individuals outside the exposure zone showed almost no contamination, with readings below 0.2 µg/dL.
In simple terms, people living and working in Ogijo have an amount of lead that is as high as 190 times greater than those living in unaffected areas.
The soil beneath their feet in Ogijo proved just as toxic. 46 environmental samples taken from 30 locations, including soil, non-soil, and dust tests in areas where families live, farm, and children play, revealed alarming levels of lead contamination. The most shocking result came from an elementary school, where soil samples contained 1,901 parts per million (ppm) of lead, almost five times higher than the US Environmental Protection Agency’s safety limit for play areas.
Results also showed that about 80 per cent of dust and slag samples taken from homes and public spaces exceeded international safety thresholds. Dust from a hotel room that shares a fence with Everest Metal, one of the prominent companies engaged in Used Lead-Acid Batteries (ULABs) in Ogijo, contained 18,647 ppm.
Scientists also documented a link between proximity to the factories and symptoms such as stomach pain, fatigue, and poor concentration. The SRADev Nigeria report also showed that common exposure pathways include inhalation of airborne lead particles, consumption of polluted water, ingestion of contaminated food, and ingestion of contaminated soil or dust.
Residents recount their pain
For Sikirat Odufeso, life in Ogijo has become a daily struggle with illness and exhaustion. Her blood lead level reads 17 µg/dL, more than three times the World Health Organisation’s safety limit.
“I’ve been really worried since I got my result,” she said.
Mrs Odufeso, who shares a fence with True Metals, said the company initially occupied a smaller portion of land several meters away from her house. However, an expansion drive saw the company buy land from her former neighbours. Now, instead of a friendly neighbourly community, the smoke emitted daily from the lead recycling plants has been a constant challenge for her, with attendant health complications.
“It used to be just our neighbours, but now it’s just smoke. Every day, the smell and fumes enter the house. We can’t open the windows again.”
Gradually her health began to fail, she narrated, her voice a mixture of pain and frustration. Mrs Odufeso’s echocardiogram— an ultrasound test that checks the heart’s structure and function—done at the Federal Medical Centre in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Babcock University Teaching Hospital, shows global systolic dysfunction and moderate pulmonary hypertension, meaning her heart’s ability to pump blood has been weakened and pressure in her lung arteries is abnormally high.
These conditions, which cause fatigue, breathlessness, and swelling, are consistent with the long-term effects of toxic exposure from smelting plants.
“The dust has blocked my chest,” she said. “I always feel tired. I can’t walk a long distance.”
Mrs Odufeso said she had spent over N3 million on treatment, but her symptoms persist.
The nights, she said, are the worst. “When the factories start operation, everywhere turns dark. The smoke becomes heavier. It wakes me up at night, and all the tiles and the floor will be blackened by morning.”
While Mrs Odufeso battles with her failing health, Mary Mike, a former cook at True Metals, bears an even deeper pain.
Her voice trembled as she recounted how her husband, also a worker in the same company, died in a furnace repair accident at another lead recycling plant in October 2024.
Although the company paid N8 million as compensation, Mrs Mike said she only received N1.5 million after her husband’s relatives took the rest.
Soon after the burial, she was allegedly dismissed by True Metals for taking too long to resume work. Now a widow and sole breadwinner, she struggles to care for her children.
“The supervisors do not implement any safety standards,” she said bitterly. “The safety gear is taken by the supervisors themselves. We need help. If you are not dying by fire at the company, you are dying from the smoke at home.”
Mrs Mike’s BLL result read 21.8757 µg/dL.
Children suffer too
Eleven-year-old Freeman is not the only child with worrying blood lead levels, as results show that eight out of the 14 children tested have lead poisoning of more than 5 μg/dl.
Five-year-old Sunday and eight-year-old John have a BLL of 15.006 and 24.623 micrograms per decilitre, respectively. Their mom, 49-year-old Oluwasola Bayonle (not real name), lived 500 metres from True Metals.
Mrs Bayonle recalls days when smoke and dust settled thickly over homes. The consequences, she believes, followed her into the most vulnerable moments of her life. During her pregnancy, she went into labour for three days. She said the water leaking from her body carried a strange smell.
Doctors later informed her that toxic substances, which they identified as lead, had entered her system. Her son was born at just seven months and four days. Mrs Bayonle said medical staff told her the premature birth was linked to the environment she lived in.
“They said the place was not okay at all,” she recalled.
Her worries did not end there. Her children frequently struggle with stomach pains and headaches, and medication offers little relief. When the family underwent testing, she said health workers told her the symptoms were consistent with lead exposure.
“They told me it is the lead that is causing the stomach aches and the headaches,” she said.
The emotional toll is still heavy. Some nights, the memories of her pregnancy, the dust, and the medical reports return too vividly.
“Once I remember everything, I cannot sleep,” she said. “I suffered a lot when I gave birth to my son.”
Environmental hazards at Everest Metal Nigeria Limited, where she worked as a cleaner, didn’t spare her from the fumes either. Her assigned room, used by other workers too, sat beside the furnace, where smoke pushed through gaps in the walls.
She cleaned toilets, pumped water, and earned N100,000 a month, but the constant sickness wore her down.
“It wasn’t a small sickness; some days, I had no energy. My whole body pained me,” she said.
Mrs Bayonle’s BLL test confirmed her fears, as her result showed 31.0589 micrograms per decilitre, the highest of all the women tested in Ogijo. Her children, Sunday and John, tested second and fourth highest of all children tested.
Even now, living farther away, she worries about the long-term effects on her children.
Joshua Ojo, a professor of health physics and environment at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, said pregnant and lactating women in exposed communities are the most vulnerable population as they often pass the lead to their babies either in the womb or through breastfeeding.
“The cases of chronic low-dose endogenous exposure of our vulnerable babies are widespread and constantly ongoing. It is affecting millions of our children, significantly degrading the quality of their lives, and consequently, our potential for development as a nation,” he said.
Schools, pupils not left out
When Adeyombo Adesoji established his school in 2010 within the Ogijo community, his goal was to provide hope for young minds through quality education. However, that goal has since been disrupted by the hazards of smoke and chemical dust from nearby lead-recycling factories drifting into his classrooms. At Fountain of the Lord’s Glory Secondary School, Mr Adesoji’s school, more than 300 pupils try to learn under a grey, polluted sky.
“When we started here, the companies around us were few and they dealt mostly in iron,” he said. “But over the years, these lead-recycling factories began to spring up. When they start production, you feel uncomfortable. The smoke, the smell, it’s choking.
“The students complain all the time. Most of them live around here, so they’re used to it, but it’s not normal,” he said.
About a decade ago, in 2015, the community decided it had had enough. Since his school had a large student population, residents asked Mr Adesoji to let the children join a protest to draw attention to the pollution.
“We all came out with placards, students, parents, everybody. We even invited officials from the State Ministry of Environment; they came, they saw the water and everything we showed them, and we thought something would finally change.”
But it didn’t.
“From what we heard, the officials collected bribes,” he said with a shrug. “But this is Nigeria, things like that happen.”
More than 10 years later, the school is still standing, still imparting knowledge in its own way, and its pupils are still inhaling the toxic smoke billowing from the chimneys of nearby factories.
The residents who tested positive for lead poisoning live between 100 and 500 metres from True Metals Nigeria Limited and Everest Metal Nigeria Ltd, two of the most prominent companies engaged in Used Lead-Acid Batteries (ULABs) in Ogijo.
The lead found in the blood of residents and in the soil of Ewu Oloye, Ipetoro, and Ewu Eruku communities in Ogijo, a border town in Ogun State, pointed to a clear source: the cluster of battery-recycling factories that powers Ogijo’s small economy while slowly poisoning the people and their environment.
Residents who tested positive for lead poisoning live within 100 to 500 metres of True Metals Nigeria Limited and Everest Metal Nigeria Ltd, two of the most prominent Used Lead-Acid Batteries (ULAB) recyclers in Ogijo.
True Metal Nigeria Limited is a metal recycling facility located at Km-16, Ikorodu-Sagamu Road, Ogijo, Ogun State. According to its website, the company specialises in the export of non-ferrous metals, including lead alloys, lead ingots, and copper products.
True Metals is one of Nigeria’s leading exporters of lead products. In 2022, the company shipped recycled lead to Spain, South Korea, and India. Between 2023 and May 2025, it also exported recycled lead to the United States, according to multiple trade records reviewed by The Examination and PREMIUM TIMES.
Records show that between 2022 and 2024, several companies received recycled lead from True Metals, including Trafigura Trading LLC, C. Steinweg Baltimore Inc., Wilebat SL, Hankook Bicheol Co. Ltd., and Montorretas SA.
Further analysis of two separate trade record sources found that, from April 2023 to December 2024, True Metals Nigeria Ltd. made at least 29 shipments of recycled lead to Trafigura, destined for the United States.
According to a 2020 report by UNICEF and Pure Earth, the global demand for lead has surged in recent decades, driven largely by the rapid growth of vehicle ownership in low- and middle-income countries. Lead prices doubled between 2005 and 2019, while the number of new vehicles sold in these countries more than tripled between 2000 and 2018.
Global Dynamics
In the auto industry, recycled lead is extensively used in automotive batteries, forming the core of new batteries through a recycling system. The lead from spent batteries is recovered, refined, and returned to the supply chain to create new ones, with recycled materials making up over 80 per cent of new car batteries in the US. Experts claim that the approach conserves resources, reduces the need for mining, and makes lead-acid batteries one of the most recycled products.
While the United States and Europe recycle more than 95 per cent of their used lead-acid batteries under strict environmental controls, many low- and middle-income countries lack comparable regulations and enforcement. As a result, countless batteries are processed in informal and unregulated settings.
“These informal recycling operations are often in backyards, where unprotected workers break open batteries with hand tools and remove the lead plates that are smelted in open-air pits that spread lead-laden fumes and particulate. It is estimated that in Africa alone, more than 1.2 million tonnes of used lead-acid batteries enter the recycling economy each year, and much of that goes to informal operators,” the 2020 report stated.
Africa alone generates an estimated 1.2 million tonnes of used lead-acid batteries each year, much of which ends up in informal recycling operations that serve as a primary source of income for many poor households.
According to United Nations data, Nigeria led Africa in recycled lead exports between 2019 and 2023. The same data show that the United States imported the largest net weight of recycled lead from Nigeria during this period. US Census records indicate that imports from Nigeria increased from under 1,000 tonnes in 2019 to 34,300 tonnes in 2020.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “USA Trade Online,” accessed on September 17, 2025. HS code:7801
Workers’ Recount Ordeals
True Metals said it aims to be “a well-organised, fully upgraded, mechanical and efficient plant that sustains development to business through class value-added products,” and by being “Eco-friendly”.
However, multiple residents and workers within the organisation told PREMIUM TIMES that the company’s promises to be eco-friendly only exist on paper, as the indiscriminate discharge of lead waste into the soil, air, and water of Ogijo falls short of international safety standards.
Workers report handling batteries with their bare hands, smashing them with axes, wearing torn gloves, and handling molten lead with minimal protection, while fumes drift freely into the air.
Video evidence obtained by PREMIUM TIMES showed that factory floors are cracked and cluttered, slag piles sit exposed to wind and rain, and rainwater and battery effluents flow untreated into the surroundings. Lead dust left out in the open spreads into nearby homes, classrooms, and gardens.
In one small-scale farm that shares a fence with True Metals, PREMIUM TIMES reporters observed blackened leaves, a sign of prolonged exposure to dust and fumes drifting from the recycling plant. The surfaces of houses and rooftops have been blackened over the years from the lead dust emitted by the company.
Every step of the operation flagrantly violates international safety standards and the National Environmental (Battery Control) Regulations 2024, exposing both workers and communities to toxic lead.
“Nobody ensures that workers have protective gear; if anything happens to you, you are on your own,” a True Metals worker, who sought anonymity for fear of victimisation, told PREMIUM TIMES. Section 49 of the National Environmental (Battery Control) Regulations 2024 states that workers handling used batteries must wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as prescribed in the regulations.
Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES in the first week of November, a worker at True Metals, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, had just finished his shift. His face looked worn, the long hours clearly taking a toll on him. The harsh working conditions have aged him, he said, but his need to earn an honest living, even at the risk of his health, keeps him there.
As the late-afternoon sun fell on his face, he recalled the many accidents he had witnessed over the years, incidents that had cost some of his colleagues an eye, an arm, and even a life.
Just like his colleagues, this worker tested high for lead poisoning.
“I am worried, I am not okay with the result,” he said, in response to PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiry on how he felt about the test result. “But how can I find a solution?” he asked aloud, confusion and helplessness written on his face.
“It is to quit the job,” he quipped, amid hesitation, adding that “I am just managing for now because I don’t have any other one yet.”
Many Nigerians struggle with unemployment. Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics indicate that the country’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, approximately two years after the methodology was revised and the rate adjusted from 33 per cent.
The worker reported experiencing itching and internal heat. When a blood test was conducted by True Metals in 2023, he alleged that the results were not provided to them. The company informed them that they were fine, and it was the only test he had been subjected to since joining the company nearly a decade ago, in clear contravention of existing laws and regulations.
According to Section 48(j) of the National Environmental (Battery Control) Regulations 2024, battery recycling plants are expected to “carry out blood lead test on the facility workers at least twice every year.”
The blood and soil test commissioned by The Examination and partners and prepared by the Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (STRADev) documented cases of headaches, stomach pain, anaemia, fatigue, and seizures among affected individuals.
Apart from True Metals, workers and residents living near other recycling plants in Ogijo—notably Everest Metal Nigeria Ltd and African Non-Ferrous Industries Ltd—were also tested. Results showed that all 16 workers tested from the three recycling companies have lead poisoning. Their BLL ranged from 10 to 38.1234 µg/Dl. The workers held roles such as cleaning, sorting, smelting, storekeeping, and battery transportation.
The situation is not any different at Everest Metal Nigeria Ltd. The company is situated on the premises of a former iron rolling plant and has been engaged in the recycling of used lead-acid batteries (ULABs) for approximately five years.
Among the workers tested, Steven (Not real name*), a furnace operator, recorded a blood-lead level of 21.7 microgrammes per decilitre, more than five times the World Health Organisation’s safety limit.
“I feel bad. I didn’t even know that I have this level of lead inside my system. I would have left this work a long time ago,” Mr Steven said when he received his result.
For three years, he worked at the plant. Each day, he and his co-workers feed used batteries into red-hot furnaces that burn for hours, releasing thick fumes that sting the eyes and throat. They mix the acid and molten lead by hand, often without adequate protection.
“We get gloves once a week,” he said. “But the acid burns through them, and sometimes I buy new ones with my own money.”
Mr Steven said his body had started sending warnings.
“Two weeks ago, I began to feel sharp pains in my chest. Sometimes my eyes hurt, like dust is inside them. Other times, I can’t see clearly. Before I eat at night, my stomach hurts. Even when I try to urinate, I feel pain all over,” he said.
When he coughs, the sputum that comes out is black, the same colour as the smoke that rises from the furnace. Mr Steven said inspectors from government agencies visit only to take photographs or collect “settlements” before leaving.
“They don’t ask how we feel. If anything happens, you’re on your own,” he said.
Last year, one of his friends died after suffering severe swelling, symptoms that doctors linked to chemical poisoning. The company paid the family N1.5 million in compensation, he told PREMIUM TIMES.
“He stopped eating, and his body started swelling. His family rushed him to the hospital, but he died the same day. It was the chemicals that killed him,” Mr Steven said.
“Lodging”
At Everest Metal, used lead-acid batteries are collected, broken, and fed into furnaces. Workers refer to the production area as “the lodging.” There are four such lodgings, each operating its own furnace.
The process begins with the arrival of old batteries, already cracked open to remove the plastic casings. The metal and residue are mixed with chemicals and loaded into the furnace, where they are heated for four to five hours.
When the molten mixture cools, it solidifies into crude lead. The lead is then transferred to the refinery section, where it is purified and prepared for export. Throughout the process, workers are exposed to heat, fumes, and acid residue, often without adequate protective gear.
The traditional ruler of Ogijo, Oba Kazeem Gbadamosi, stated that his community has spent years advocating for battery recycling companies to operate safely.
He said that despite workshops and repeated engagements, many factories continue to operate as they did years ago, with dangerous consequences. According to him, past tests revealed “a great amount of lead… in the blood, on the ground, and in the environment where these factories are located.”
He recalled reports of severe health problems among residents, including birth deformities, persistent cough, miscarriages and even a cluster of sudden deaths of five workers within a single week.
“Some have been reported, some have not been reported, but they can be attributed to the issue of lead being emitted in the community,” he said.
He stressed that residents were not calling for the factories to shut down, but rather for them to stop polluting, adding that local leaders had worked with NGOs and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) for six years to pressure operators to adopt safer practices.
Regulatory Provisions
In August 2024, the Federal Government of Nigeria unveiled the National Environmental (Battery Control) Regulations 2024 to prevent and minimise pollution and waste emanating from batteries in Nigeria. This is based on the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) Act, 2007, a Nigerian law that established the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency to protect and develop the environment.
Speaking at the time, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, stated that the document was part of the government’s efforts to promote the practice of battery waste disposal in an internationally standardised manner and facilitate an enabling environment for deploying renewable energy projects.
“Batteries contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and lithium, amongst others. When improperly disposed of, these materials can lead to severe health conditions, including cancer, kidney damage and neurological disorders,” he said.
In essence, the regulations aim to ensure the environmentally sound management of all types of batteries throughout their life cycle, encompassing production, use, collection, transportation, storage, recycling, and disposal. This will not only encourage best practices among recyclers but also ensure that the people and their environments are safe.
However, for workers and residents who have endured years of relentless pollution from the battery lead recycling companies in Ogijo, their realities mirror cases of regulatory failures. They told PREMIUM TIMES that they can no longer bear the toll it has taken on their health and daily lives.
In 2018, a BusinessDay report revealed that companies recycling lead-acid batteries were contaminating air, soil, and water sources in Ogun and Lagos states, resulting in high lead levels in the blood of workers and residents. Seven years later, the situation has only worsened.
Omoh Ifalanki, an executive of the Ikeoluwa Community Development Area (CDA), told PREMIUM TIMES that every attempt to stop the toxic emissions over the years has been unsuccessful. He said letters to government agencies, including the Ogun State Ministry of Environment, have gone unanswered.
A resident of Ogijo for over two decades, Mr Ifalanki explained that community members, most of whom are poor, often pool their own money to submit formal complaints about the pollution from the lead-recycling factories.
“These companies pay tax, so the government knows them well,” he said, alleging that corruption has allowed the violations to continue unchecked.
Light at the end of the tunnel?
On 17 September, NESREA announced that it had sealed nine recycling facilities in Ogijo, including True Metals, for environmental pollution.
In a statement on its website, NESREA’s Director-General, Innocent Barikor, said the “improper disposal of hazardous slag from battery recycling threatens environmental degradation and public health risks from toxic lead content. Tests have revealed the presence of lead in residents, resulting in illnesses and deaths.”
According to NESREA, the facilities were shut down for violating the National Environmental (Battery Control) Regulations, 2024. Offences cited include operating without the required environmental documents, lacking a fume treatment system, discharging black oil, failing to conduct blood-lead tests on workers, poor slag management, manual battery breaking, and non-compliance with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programme.
But before the announcement, The Examination, PREMIUM TIMES, and partners had conducted an independent scientific study to measure lead levels in Ogijo’s soil and in the blood of 70 workers and residents. The results were relayed to NESREA for official reaction.
The results were alarming. Of the 70 people tested, 50 had Blood Lead Levels (BLLs) above 5 µg/dL, the World Health Organisation’s threshold for lead poisoning. Every worker sampled, 14 in total, tested positive, including one employee at Everest Metal whose BLL reached 38 µg/dL, a level associated with severe neurological and organ damage.
Children and women also showed widespread exposure. Eight of the 14 children tested had BLLs above the five µg/dL benchmark, while 15 of the 24 women sampled exceeded the same threshold. One woman recorded an exceptionally high BLL of 31.06 µg/d.
These violations mirror what residents working in the facilities have long reported.
Meanwhile, NESREA had received a copy of the soil and blood test result commissioned by The Examination and prepared by STRADev before it sealed the recycling companies.
But while speaking to The New York Times/The Examination in an interview, the NESREA DG, Mr Barikor, claimed that the STRADev report was “additional information” and NESREA had done its own report “over a period of time.”
Multiple residents and workers in recycling plants in Ogijo expressed doubts about such a “coincidence”, but were delighted that action was being taken anyway. Many of them told PREMIUM TIMES that the draft blood and soil report NESREA received between late August and early September seems to have finally spurred the agency into action in Ogijo, steps it should have taken earlier.
Yet, despite the seal orders, True Metals and Everest Metal resumed operations within weeks, reopening as though nothing had happened. When asked why the companies reopened, Mr Barikor said a meeting held in Abuja between the agency and the battery lead recycling companies prompted the re-opening of the facilities. 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 said.
He further stated that some companies have begun to “take measures” to address this protocol on how to deal with their environmental concerns.
For workers who are put in harm’s way because the government failed to implement the safety laws and for Ogijo residents whose health slowly ebbs away, the assurances mean little.
In multiple interviews with PREMIUM TIMES in the first week of November, workers who sought anonymity for fear of victimisation said after production resumed at the factories, nothing really changed.
“After shutting down for two weeks, we came back to work, but they gave only a few of us boots. I buy my safety boots to protect myself,” a resident who works for Everest Metal said. Workers at True Metals shared similar experiences.
In an interview with The New York Times and The Examination, Chris Pruitt, executive chairman of the board of East Penn Manufacturing, a major US battery maker with ties to Nigerian companies, stated that “under five per cent” of the lead came from Nigeria. After receiving questions from The Examination and partner newsrooms, Mr Pruitt said, East Penn stopped buying lead from Nigeria and began to tighten its supplier code of conduct.
Lead-recycling companies speak
The Examination and PREMIUM TIMES wrote to True Metals and Everest Metals. We sought to know what information Hankook, its South Korean trading partner, and Trafigura, a US-based trader that purchases recycled lead from Nigerian recycling companies, requested from True Metals about pollution controls, worker safety, and environmental practices before purchasing its recycled lead.
We also asked True Metals to respond to inspection findings, reports of unsafe dust levels, allegations of weak safety practices, community pollution complaints, sourcing practices from informal collectors, and evidence of soil and blood contamination, among other issues.
The two companies did not respond to letters seeking clarification on the matter.
We also contacted BPL Nigeria Ltd., one of the companies assessed in the 2024 ProBaMet project, with questions about its safety practices. We asked what information Trafigura requested from BPL regarding pollution controls and worker protection, and whether BPL agreed with the ProBaMet findings that described “severe weaknesses,” significant emissions, and unsafe exposure to lead.
The 2024 ProBaMet project was a multi-level intervention led by six NGOs, among them STRADev, in partnership with the German Cooperation. On the government side, the effort brought together NESREA, the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA), and other regulatory agencies.
We also requested clarification on specific inspection observations, including the lack of controlled acid collection, poor dust handling, and a large dust heap located near the furnace.
Additionally, we inquired whether BPL disputed NESREA’s September 2024 allegations that the company had violated the new Battery Recycling Regulation in areas such as the absence of environmental documents, unsafe manual breaking, improper slag management, and failure to conduct worker blood-lead tests.
In its response, BPL did not address our specific questions but instead issued a broad statement about its role in Nigeria’s evolving recycling industry. The company stated that it collaborates with international partners, including Trafigura, to meet environmental and safety requirements and is implementing a 17-point improvement plan that encompasses monitoring, worker safety, infrastructure, and responsible sourcing.
BPL added that it is committed to aligning with the 2024 Battery Recycling Regulation and continues to engage regulators and partners to raise operational standards.
Meanwhile, it neither confirmed nor disputed the specific inspection findings that contained NESREA’s allegations.
African Non-Ferrous, another recycling company, said it recognises the environmental and health risks associated with lead recycling and has been working with Nigerian authorities to address compliance issues under the 2024 battery recycling regulations.
The company stated that it has implemented improvements in environmental monitoring, worker safety, infrastructure, and responsible battery sourcing to align with Nigerian and international standards. It added that it remains committed to collaborating with regulators, customers, and community stakeholders to enhance environmental performance while maintaining jobs in the sector.
An email enquiry sent to the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA), the agency responsible for enforcing relevant environmental standards, regulations, and laws, elicited no response as of press time. Efforts to also reach the agency through multiple telephone calls placed to a number listed on its website proved abortive.
What next for Ogijo residents, workers?
After the blood test was conducted, there was a brief medical consultation with the affected residents and workers, while sachets of ferrous sulfate, an iron supplement used to prevent or treat anaemia, were provided.
Many of them were advised to relocate from their communities, with no clarity on compensation or chelation therapy for those with extremely high blood-lead levels, as recommended by the WHO.
Whether the ferrous sulfate will help remove the lead remains uncertain, as a 2020 UNICEF and Pure Earth report notes that once lead settles in the body, there is no real cure, and much of the damage from long-term exposure is irreversible.
Nasir Tsafe, a member of the rapid response team for lead poisoning in Zamfara State and coordinator of the Centre for Lead Poisoning Control and Prevention at King Fahd Abdul Aziz Children and Women Hospital, told The Examination, PREMIUM TIMES and partners that exposure above 3.5 micrograms per deciliter is dangerous.
“According to the CDC, this could start to show some effects in the body, especially cognitive effects on children who are less than five,” he explained.
Mr Tsafe stressed the need to stop ongoing exposure, noting that children can ingest lead through contaminated clothes and materials brought home from smelting sites. He said smelters need proper training and hygiene practices, including removing contaminated materials, bathing with soap, and changing into clean clothes before returning home.
“Any ordinary soap will remove 99 per cent of the lead. Then they must put on clean clothes that are completely not used during the smelting… so that when they go home, they have less exposure to give to their children.”
He, however, said government action on lead poisoning has been deprioritised.
“Right now, the government has put down lead poisoning aside. It’s no longer their priority… It’s still a time bomb. It’s going to come back. It’s still going to come back to be killing more and more children,” he said.
This investigation is reported in partnership with The Examination, Joy FM, Pambazuko, and Truth Reporting Post. Research and data analysis by Fernanda Aguirre, Romina Colman and Mago Torres of The Examination, with assistance from the investigative data consultancy Data Desk. Trade and customs data from the U.S. Census, UN Comtrade, Import Genius, Panjiva and Volza, relying on the global product code for recycled lead.
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