The Cross River State Deputy Governor, Mr. Efiok Cobham, has called for strict enforcement of environmental laws and standards by relevant agencies with the imposition of heavy sanctions on defaulters to help combat the menace.
Speaking in Calabar when the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Dr. (Mrs.) Ngeri Benebo, led top officials of the agency on official visit in his office, Cobham lamented the frequent occurrence of environmental pollutions such as the dumping of ‘Toxic waste, oil spillage, climate change, air pollutions, among others and attributed them to poor environmental management by all the stakeholders in environmental control.
The deputy governor,  called for urgent action to be taken to ensure strict compliance to environmental laws and standards in the country to arrest the situation, and expressed the state government’s readiness to collaborate with the agency towards tackling environmental pollutions.
He disclosed that so far the government has expended so much in that direction, and urged the agency to throw its searchlight on the operations of over 50 quarries sites in the state, licensed by the federal ministry of mines with a view to curbing environmental pollution in the state.
He promised to look into the requests made by the agency with a view to finding appropriate solutions to them.
Earlier, the Director-General of NESREA, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngeri Benebo, had requested for a furnished office, staff bus, four wheel-drive double cabin van, 30 KVA generator set, among others to enhance its operation in the state.
She promised to work closely with the state government to address the environmental challenges in the state, stating that the agency is charged with the responsibility of “enforcing all environmental laws, guidelines, policies, standards and regulations in Nigeria and ensuring compliance with the provisions of international agreements, conventions, protocols and treaties on environment”.