That is the second a part of this two-part investigation. You may learn the primary half right here.
The lead discovered within the blood of residents and within the soil of Ewu Oloye, Ipetoro, and Ewu Eruku communities in Ogijo, a border city in Ogun State, pointed to a transparent supply: the cluster of battery-recycling factories that powers Ogijo’s small financial system whereas slowly poisoning the individuals and their setting.
Residents who examined optimistic for lead poisoning dwell inside 100 to 500 metres of True Metals Nigeria Restricted and Everest Steel Nigeria Ltd, two of essentially the most distinguished Used Lead-Acid Batteries (ULAB) recyclers in Ogijo.
True Steel Nigeria Restricted is a steel recycling facility positioned at Km-16, Ikorodu-Sagamu Street, Ogijo, Ogun State. In keeping with its website, the corporate specialises within the export of non-ferrous metals, together with lead alloys, lead ingots, and copper merchandise.
True Metals is one in every of Nigeria’s main exporters of lead merchandise. In 2022, the corporate shipped recycled result in Spain, South Korea, and India. Between 2023 and Could 2025, it additionally exported recycled result in the USA, in line with a number of commerce data reviewed by The Examination and PREMIUM TIMES.
Information present that between 2022 and 2024, a number of corporations obtained recycled lead from True Metals, together with Trafigura Buying and selling LLC, C. Steinweg Baltimore Inc., Wilebat SL, Hankook Bicheol Co. Ltd., and Montorretas SA.
Additional evaluation of two separate commerce report sources discovered that, from April 2023 to December 2024, True Metals Nigeria Ltd. made no less than 29 shipments of recycled result in Trafigura, destined for the USA.
In keeping with a 2020 report by UNICEF and Pure Earth, the worldwide demand for lead has surged in current a long time, pushed largely by the fast progress of car possession in low- and middle-income nations. Lead costs doubled between 2005 and 2019, whereas the variety of new automobiles offered in these nations greater than tripled between 2000 and 2018.
World Dynamics
Within the auto trade, recycled lead is extensively utilized in automotive batteries, forming the core of recent batteries by way of a recycling system. The lead from spent batteries is recovered, refined, and returned to the availability chain to create new ones, with recycled supplies making up over 80 per cent of recent automotive batteries within the US. Consultants declare that the strategy conserves assets, reduces the necessity for mining, and makes lead-acid batteries one of the recycled merchandise.
Whereas the USA and Europe recycle greater than 95 per cent of their used lead-acid batteries beneath strict environmental controls, many low- and middle-income nations lack comparable laws and enforcement. In consequence, numerous batteries are processed in casual and unregulated settings.
“These casual recycling operations are sometimes in backyards, the place unprotected employees break open batteries with hand instruments and take away the lead plates which can be smelted in open-air pits that unfold lead-laden fumes and particulate. It’s estimated that in Africa alone, greater than 1.2 million tonnes of used lead-acid batteries enter the recycling financial system annually, and far of that goes to casual operators,” the 2020 report acknowledged.
Africa alone generates an estimated 1.2 million tonnes of used lead-acid batteries annually, a lot of which results in casual recycling operations that function a major supply of earnings for a lot of poor households.
In keeping with United Nations information, Nigeria led Africa in recycled lead exports between 2019 and 2023. The identical information present that the USA imported the most important internet weight of recycled lead from Nigeria throughout this era. US Census data point out that imports from Nigeria elevated from beneath 1,000 tonnes in 2019 to 34,300 tonnes in 2020.
Supply: U.S. Census Bureau, “USA Trade Online,” accessed on September 17, 2025. HS code:7801
Staff’ Recount Ordeals
True Metals mentioned it goals to be “a well-organised, totally upgraded, mechanical and environment friendly plant that sustains growth to enterprise by way of class value-added merchandise,” and by being “Eco-friendly”.
Nonetheless, a number of residents and employees inside the organisation instructed PREMIUM TIMES that the corporate’s guarantees to be eco-friendly solely exist on paper, because the indiscriminate discharge of lead waste into the soil, air, and water of Ogijo falls in need of worldwide security requirements.
Staff report dealing with batteries with their naked fingers, smashing them with axes, sporting torn gloves, and dealing with molten lead with minimal safety, whereas fumes drift freely into the air.
Video proof obtained by PREMIUM TIMES confirmed that manufacturing unit flooring are cracked and cluttered, slag piles sit uncovered to wind and rain, and rainwater and battery effluents movement untreated into the environment. Lead mud unnoticed within the open spreads into close by properties, lecture rooms, and gardens.
In a single small-scale farm that shares a fence with True Metals, PREMIUM TIMES reporters noticed blackened leaves, an indication of extended publicity to mud and fumes drifting from the recycling plant. The surfaces of homes and rooftops have been blackened over time from the lead mud emitted by the corporate.
Each step of the operation flagrantly violates international safety standards and the Nationwide Environmental (Battery Management) Laws 2024, exposing each employees and communities to poisonous lead.
“No person ensures that employees have protecting gear; if something occurs to you, you might be by yourself,” a True Metals employee, who sought anonymity for worry of victimisation, instructed PREMIUM TIMES. Part 49 of the Nationwide Environmental (Battery Management) Laws 2024 states that employees dealing with used batteries should put on acceptable Private Protecting Gear (PPE) as prescribed within the laws.
Chatting with PREMIUM TIMES within the first week of November, a employee at True Metals, who requested to not be named for worry of reprisals, had simply completed his shift. His face regarded worn, the lengthy hours clearly taking a toll on him. The tough working circumstances have aged him, he mentioned, however his have to earn an sincere dwelling, even on the threat of his well being, retains him there.
Because the late-afternoon solar fell on his face, he recalled the various accidents he had witnessed over time, incidents that had price a few of his colleagues an eye fixed, an arm, and even a life.
Similar to his colleagues, this employee examined excessive for lead poisoning.
“I’m fearful, I’m not okay with the outcome,” he mentioned, in response to PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiry on how he felt concerning the check outcome. “However how can I discover a resolution?” he requested aloud, confusion and helplessness written on his face.
“It’s to give up the job,” he quipped, amid hesitation, including that “I’m simply managing for now as a result of I don’t have every other one but.”
Many Nigerians wrestle with unemployment. Figures from the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics point out that the nation’s unemployment charge stood at 4.3 per cent within the second quarter of 2024, roughly two years after the methodology was revised and the speed adjusted from 33 per cent.
The employee reported experiencing itching and inner warmth. When a blood check was carried out by True Metals in 2023, he alleged that the outcomes weren’t supplied to them. The corporate knowledgeable them that they have been high-quality, and it was the one check he had been subjected to since becoming a member of the corporate almost a decade in the past, in clear contravention of present legal guidelines and laws.
In keeping with Part 48(j) of the Nationwide Environmental (Battery Management) Laws 2024, battery recycling crops are anticipated to “perform blood lead check on the ability employees no less than twice yearly.”
The blood and soil check commissioned by The Examination and companions and ready by the Sustainable Analysis and Motion for Environmental Improvement (STRADev) documented instances of complications, abdomen ache, anaemia, fatigue, and seizures amongst affected people.
Other than True Metals, employees and residents dwelling close to different recycling crops in Ogijo—notably Everest Steel Nigeria Ltd and African Non-Ferrous Industries Ltd—have been additionally examined. Outcomes confirmed that every one 16 employees examined from the three recycling corporations have lead poisoning. Their BLL ranged from 10 to 38.1234 µg/Dl. The employees held roles equivalent to cleansing, sorting, smelting, storekeeping, and battery transportation.
The scenario isn’t any completely different at Everest Steel Nigeria Ltd. The corporate is located on the premises of a former iron rolling plant and has been engaged within the recycling of used lead-acid batteries (ULABs) for about 5 years.
Among the many employees examined, Steven (Not actual title*), a furnace operator, recorded a blood-lead stage of 21.7 microgrammes per decilitre, greater than 5 instances the World Well being Organisation’s security restrict.
“I really feel dangerous. I didn’t even know that I’ve this stage of lead inside my system. I’d have left this work a very long time in the past,” Mr Steven mentioned when he obtained his outcome.
For 3 years, he labored on the plant. Every 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 combine the acid and molten lead by hand, typically with out ample safety.
“We get gloves as soon as per week,” he mentioned. “However the acid burns by way of them, and generally I purchase new ones with my very own cash.”
Mr Steven mentioned his physique had began sending warnings.
“Two weeks in the past, I started to really feel sharp pains in my chest. Typically my eyes damage, like mud is inside them. Different instances, I can’t see clearly. Earlier than I eat at night time, my abdomen hurts. Even when I attempt to urinate, I really feel ache throughout,” he mentioned.
When he coughs, the sputum that comes out is black, the identical color because the smoke that rises from the furnace. Mr Steven mentioned inspectors from authorities businesses go to solely to take images or gather “settlements” earlier than leaving.
“They don’t ask how we really feel. If something occurs, you’re by yourself,” he mentioned.
Final yr, one in every of his associates died after struggling extreme swelling, signs that medical doctors linked to chemical poisoning. The corporate paid the household N1.5 million in compensation, he instructed PREMIUM TIMES.
“He stopped consuming, and his physique began swelling. His household rushed him to the hospital, however he died the identical day. It was the chemical substances that killed him,” Mr Steven mentioned.
“Lodging”
At Everest Steel, used lead-acid batteries are collected, damaged, and fed into furnaces. Staff consult with the manufacturing space as “the lodging.” There are 4 such lodgings, every working its personal furnace.
The method begins with the arrival of previous batteries, already cracked open to take away the plastic casings. The steel and residue are combined with chemical substances and loaded into the furnace, the place they’re heated for 4 to 5 hours.
When the molten combination cools, it solidifies into crude lead. The lead is then transferred to the refinery part, the place it’s purified and ready for export. All through the method, employees are uncovered to warmth, fumes, and acid residue, typically with out ample protecting gear.
The standard ruler of Ogijo, Oba Kazeem Gbadamosi, acknowledged that his neighborhood has spent years advocating for battery recycling corporations to function safely.
He mentioned that regardless of workshops and repeated engagements, many factories proceed to function as they did years in the past, with harmful penalties. In keeping with him, previous checks revealed “a large amount of lead… within the blood, on the bottom, and within the setting the place these factories are positioned.”
He recalled experiences of extreme well being issues amongst residents, together with start deformities, persistent cough, miscarriages and even a cluster of sudden deaths of 5 employees inside a single week.
“Some have been reported, some haven’t been reported, however they are often attributed to the problem of lead being emitted in the neighborhood,” he mentioned.
He confused that residents weren’t calling for the factories to close down, however moderately for them to cease polluting, including that native leaders had labored with NGOs and the Nationwide Environmental Requirements and Laws Enforcement Company (NESREA) for six years to strain operators to undertake safer practices.
Regulatory Provisions
In August 2024, the Federal Authorities of Nigeria unveiled the Nationwide Environmental (Battery Management) Laws 2024 to forestall and minimise air pollution and waste emanating from batteries in Nigeria. That is primarily based on the Nationwide Environmental Requirements and Laws Enforcement Company (NESREA) Act, 2007, a Nigerian legislation that established the Nationwide Environmental Requirements and Laws Enforcement Company to guard and develop the setting.
Talking on the time, Nigeria’s Minister of Setting, Balarabe Lawal, acknowledged that the doc was a part of the federal government’s efforts to advertise the follow of battery waste disposal in an internationally standardised method and facilitate an enabling setting for deploying renewable vitality tasks.
“Batteries include hazardous supplies equivalent to lead, mercury, cadmium, and lithium, amongst others. When improperly disposed of, these supplies can result in extreme well being circumstances, together with most cancers, kidney harm and neurological problems,” he mentioned.
In essence, the laws intention to make sure the environmentally sound administration of all sorts of batteries all through their life cycle, encompassing manufacturing, use, assortment, transportation, storage, recycling, and disposal. This is not going to solely encourage finest practices amongst recyclers but additionally be sure that the individuals and their environments are secure.
Nonetheless, for employees and residents who’ve endured years of relentless air pollution from the battery lead recycling corporations in Ogijo, their realities mirror instances of regulatory failures. They instructed PREMIUM TIMES that they will now not bear the toll it has taken on their well being and day by day lives.
In 2018, a BusinessDay report revealed that corporations recycling lead-acid batteries have been contaminating air, soil, and water sources in Ogun and Lagos states, leading to excessive lead ranges within the blood of employees and residents. Seven years later, the scenario has solely worsened.
Omoh Ifalanki, an govt of the Ikeoluwa Neighborhood Improvement Space (CDA), instructed PREMIUM TIMES that each try and cease the poisonous emissions over time has been unsuccessful. He mentioned letters to authorities businesses, together with the Ogun State Ministry of Setting, have gone unanswered.
A resident of Ogijo for over 20 years, Mr Ifalanki defined that neighborhood members, most of whom are poor, typically pool their very own cash to submit formal complaints concerning the air pollution from the lead-recycling factories.
“These corporations pay tax, so the federal government is aware of them nicely,” he mentioned, alleging that corruption has allowed the violations to proceed unchecked.
Mild on the finish of the tunnel?
On 17 September, NESREA introduced that it had sealed 9 recycling amenities in Ogijo, together with True Metals, for environmental air pollution.
In a statement on its web site, NESREA’s Director-Normal, Harmless Barikor, mentioned the “improper disposal of hazardous slag from battery recycling threatens environmental degradation and public well being dangers from poisonous lead content material. Exams have revealed the presence of lead in residents, leading to sicknesses and deaths.”
In keeping with NESREA, the amenities have been shut down for violating the Nationwide Environmental (Battery Management) Laws, 2024. Offences cited embrace working with out the required environmental paperwork, missing a fume remedy system, discharging black oil, failing to conduct blood-lead checks on employees, poor slag administration, handbook battery breaking, and non-compliance with the Prolonged Producer Duty (EPR) programme.
However earlier than the announcement, The Examination, PREMIUM TIMES, and companions had carried out an unbiased scientific research to measure lead ranges in Ogijo’s soil and within the blood of 70 employees and residents. The outcomes have been relayed to NESREA for official response.
The outcomes have been alarming. Of the 70 individuals examined, 50 had Blood Lead Ranges (BLLs) above 5 µg/dL, the World Well being Organisation’s threshold for lead poisoning. Each employee sampled, 14 in complete, examined optimistic, together with one worker at Everest Steel whose BLL reached 38 µg/dL, a stage related to extreme neurological and organ harm.
Youngsters and ladies additionally confirmed widespread publicity. Eight of the 14 kids examined had BLLs above the 5 µg/dL benchmark, whereas 15 of the 24 ladies sampled exceeded the identical threshold. One lady recorded an exceptionally excessive BLL of 31.06 µg/d.
These violations mirror what residents working within the amenities have lengthy reported.
In the meantime, NESREA had obtained a replica of the soil and blood check outcome commissioned by The Examination and ready by STRADev earlier than it sealed the recycling corporations.
However whereas talking to The New York Occasions/The Examination in an interview, the NESREA DG, Mr Barikor, claimed that the STRADev report was “further info” and NESREA had carried out its personal report “over a time frame.”
A number of residents and employees in recycling crops in Ogijo expressed doubts about such a “coincidence”, however have been delighted that motion was being taken anyway. A lot of them instructed PREMIUM TIMES that the draft blood and soil report NESREA obtained between late August and early September appears to have lastly spurred the company into motion in Ogijo, steps it ought to have taken earlier.
But, regardless of the seal orders, True Metals and Everest Steel resumed operations inside weeks, reopening as if nothing had occurred. When requested why the businesses reopened, Mr Barikor mentioned a gathering held in Abuja between the company and the battery lead recycling corporations prompted the re-opening of the amenities. He mentioned a part of the problems mentioned have been the technological challenges the businesses wrestle with, and a protocol to be applied inside a timeframe.
“The very first thing we’re going to do is to now collectively be sure that the legacy slags are eliminated. The primary open motion that will likely be cited by the general public neighborhood would be the removing of the slag. That can’t happen till there’s an identification of a dump website that’s licensed by the federal government. We have to work with the state to try this,” he mentioned.
He additional acknowledged that some corporations have begun to “take measures” to deal with this protocol on how one can take care of their environmental issues.
For employees who’re put in hurt’s means as a result of the federal government didn’t implement the protection legal guidelines and for Ogijo residents whose well being slowly ebbs away, the assurances imply little.
In a number of interviews with PREMIUM TIMES within the first week of November, employees who sought anonymity for worry of victimisation mentioned after manufacturing resumed on the factories, nothing actually modified.
“After shutting down for 2 weeks, we got here again to work, however they gave only some of us boots. I purchase my security boots to guard myself,” a resident who works for Everest Steel mentioned. Staff at True Metals shared related experiences.
In an interview with The New York Occasions and The Examination, Chris Pruitt, govt chairman of the board of East Penn Manufacturing, a serious US battery maker with ties to Nigerian corporations, acknowledged that “beneath 5 per cent” of the lead got here from Nigeria. After receiving questions from The Examination and companion newsrooms, Mr Pruitt mentioned, East Penn stopped shopping for lead from Nigeria and commenced to tighten its provider code of conduct.
Lead-recycling corporations converse
The Examination and PREMIUM TIMES wrote to True Metals and Everest Metals. We sought to know what info Hankook, its South Korean buying and selling companion, and Trafigura, a US-based dealer that purchases recycled lead from Nigerian recycling corporations, requested from True Metals about air pollution controls, employee security, and environmental practices earlier than buying its recycled lead.
We additionally requested True Metals to answer inspection findings, experiences of unsafe mud ranges, allegations of weak security practices, neighborhood air pollution complaints, sourcing practices from casual collectors, and proof of soil and blood contamination, amongst different points.
The 2 corporations didn’t reply to letters searching for clarification on the matter.
We additionally contacted BPL Nigeria Ltd., one of many corporations assessed within the 2024 ProBaMet mission, with questions on its security practices. We requested what info Trafigura requested from BPL concerning air pollution controls and employee safety, and whether or not BPL agreed with the ProBaMet findings that described “extreme weaknesses,” important emissions, and unsafe publicity to guide.
The 2024 ProBaMet mission was a multi-level intervention led by six NGOs, amongst them STRADev, in partnership with the German Cooperation. On the federal government aspect, the hassle introduced collectively NESREA, the Ogun State Environmental Safety Company (OGEPA), and different regulatory businesses.
We additionally requested clarification on particular inspection observations, together with the dearth of managed acid assortment, poor mud dealing with, and a big mud heap positioned close to the furnace.
Moreover, we inquired whether or not BPL disputed NESREA’s September 2024 allegations that the corporate had violated the brand new Battery Recycling Regulation in areas such because the absence of environmental paperwork, unsafe handbook breaking, improper slag administration, and failure to conduct employee blood-lead checks.
In its response, BPL didn’t handle our particular questions however as a substitute issued a broad assertion about its function in Nigeria’s evolving recycling trade. The corporate acknowledged that it collaborates with worldwide companions, together with Trafigura, to satisfy environmental and security necessities and is implementing a 17-point enchancment plan that encompasses monitoring, employee security, infrastructure, and accountable sourcing.
BPL added that it’s dedicated to aligning with the 2024 Battery Recycling Regulation and continues to have interaction regulators and companions to lift operational requirements.
In the meantime, it neither confirmed nor disputed the precise inspection findings that contained NESREA’s allegations.
African Non-Ferrous, one other recycling firm, mentioned it recognises the environmental and well being dangers related to lead recycling and has been working with Nigerian authorities to deal with compliance points beneath the 2024 battery recycling laws.
The corporate acknowledged that it has applied enhancements in environmental monitoring, employee security, infrastructure, and accountable battery sourcing to align with Nigerian and worldwide requirements. It added that it stays dedicated to collaborating with regulators, clients, and neighborhood stakeholders to boost environmental efficiency whereas sustaining jobs within the sector.
An electronic mail enquiry despatched to the Ogun State Environmental Safety Company (OGEPA), the company liable for implementing related environmental requirements, laws, and legal guidelines, elicited no response as of press time. Efforts to additionally attain the company by way of a number of phone calls positioned to a quantity listed on its website proved abortive.
What subsequent for Ogijo residents, employees?
After the blood check was carried out, there was a quick medical session with the affected residents and employees, whereas sachets of ferrous sulfate, an iron complement used to forestall or deal with anaemia, have been supplied.
A lot of them have been suggested to relocate from their communities, with no readability on compensation or chelation remedy for these with extraordinarily excessive blood-lead ranges, as really helpful by the WHO.
Whether or not the ferrous sulfate will assist take away the lead stays unsure, as a 2020 UNICEF and Pure Earth report notes that when lead settles within the physique, there isn’t a actual treatment, and far of the harm from long-term publicity is irreversible.
Nasir Tsafe, a member of the fast response crew for lead poisoning in Zamfara State and coordinator of the Centre for Lead Poisoning Management and Prevention at King Fahd Abdul Aziz Youngsters and Ladies Hospital, instructed The Examination, PREMIUM TIMES and companions that publicity above 3.5 micrograms per deciliter is harmful.
“In keeping with the CDC, this might begin to present some results within the physique, particularly cognitive results on kids who’re lower than 5,” he defined.
Mr Tsafe confused the necessity to cease ongoing publicity, noting that kids can ingest lead by way of contaminated garments and supplies introduced residence from smelting websites. He mentioned smelters want correct coaching and hygiene practices, together with eradicating contaminated supplies, bathing with cleaning soap, and turning into clear garments earlier than returning residence.
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“Any abnormal cleaning soap will take away 99 per cent of the lead. Then they need to placed on clear garments which can be utterly not used in the course of the smelting… in order that after they go residence, they’ve much less publicity to present to their kids.”
He, nevertheless, mentioned authorities motion on lead poisoning has been deprioritised.
“Proper now, the federal government has put down lead poisoning apart. It’s now not their precedence… It’s nonetheless a time bomb. It’s going to come back again. It’s nonetheless going to come back again to be killing an increasing number of kids,” he mentioned.
That is the second a part of this two-part investigation. You may learn the primary half right here.
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This investigation is reported in partnership with The Examination, Joy FM, Pambazuko, and Truth Reporting Post. Analysis and information evaluation by Fernanda Aguirre, Romina Colman and Mago Torres of The Examination, with help from the investigative information consultancy Knowledge Desk. Commerce and customs information from the U.S. Census, UN Comtrade, Import Genius, Panjiva and Volza, counting on the worldwide product code for recycled lead.
Further Infographic design by Aaron Cole of PREMIUM TIMES.
