The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO) has sealed three major companies—Nigerian Bottling Company (producers of Coca-Cola), FrieslandCampina (makers of Peak Milk), and Guinness Nigeria Plc—for extracting large quantities of groundwater without proper authorization or compliance with regulatory standards.
Mr. Olowu Babatunde, Director of Technical Services at LASWARCO, revealed during an enforcement operation on Tuesday that the commission has been engaging with these companies for over seven years to ensure compliance, with limited success.
“These companies abstract water in large quantities for commercial purposes, which falls under our regulatory mandate,” Babatunde said. “Despite repeated engagements and even partial compliance from some, full adherence has remained elusive. With the implementation of our regulations, we are now compelled to take stricter actions to enforce compliance.”
This enforcement follows a news briefing held on Monday by Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, the Commissioner for the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, addressing the dangers of unregulated groundwater abstraction.
Wahab highlighted that the Environmental Management Protection Law of 2017 empowers LASWARCO to regulate groundwater usage and penalize unauthorized abstraction. He warned that unregulated activities could result in severe environmental consequences, such as land subsidence and groundwater contamination.
In 2020, the Lagos State government introduced a 75% waiver on groundwater abstraction fees to encourage compliance, but response levels were low, prompting the current enforcement. Defaulters were recently issued letters with a 72-hour ultimatum to meet regulatory demands, with penalties set for continued non-compliance.
This decisive move underscores the Lagos State government’s commitment to sustainable water resource management and environmental protection.
