The Federal Ministry of Environment, with support from the World Bank, will establish an environmental laboratory in the state, according to Mr Nosa Adams, Edo Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability.
Adams disclosed this on Wednesday during the biweekly ministerial news conference organised by the State Ministry of Information and Strategy in Benin.
According to him, the proposed laboratory will serve Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Ondo states.
This laboratory, he asserted, would strengthen environmental monitoring, pollution control and scientific testing in the South-South region.
“We have reached out to the Federal Ministry of Environment, which has pledged, with the support of the World Bank, to build three environmental laboratories.
“One will serve Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Ondo states and will be located in Benin City,” he said.
The commissioner said the other laboratories would be located in Gombe and Enugu to serve other parts of the country.
According to him, the minister of the environment is expected to visit Benin within the next month to perform the groundbreaking for the project.
“That will be a very big boost because somebody coming from Ondo, Bayelsa and Delta to carry out environmental laboratory tests will be able to do so in Benin City,” Adams said.
He said the facility would enhance scientific assessment of environmental pollution, improve regulatory compliance and strengthen environmental governance in the region.
Adams said the state government had also established standard discharge limits for industries to regulate pollutants released into the environment and protect water bodies.
He noted that the ministry had conducted environmental audits in 230 facilities across the state, served 93 abatement and violation notices to environmental offenders and prosecuted 30 habitual offenders.
The commissioner attributed the improved enforcement to the state Environment, Sanitation and Pollution Management Law, which was assented to on Oct. 25, 2025.
“The law has given the ministry and indeed the Edo State Waste Management Board the teeth to bite.
“We now have a mobile court stationed at the ministry every week to take care of habitual violators, while we continue to prioritise education and advocacy,” he said.
Adams also said the ministry had intensified monitoring of mining activities and industrial emissions, compelling companies to adopt cleaner environmental practices.
He cited the intervention at the Coca-Cola facility, where the company invested about N1.8 billion in an effluent treatment plant, after the ministry insisted that industrial waste must be treated before discharge.“Experts from the University of Benin monitored the installation to ensure that whatever is discharged is just ordinary water and no chemical at all,” he said.
