Navigating the Maze of Nigerian Environmental Law

Nigeria’s environmental law regime is a complex tapestry of rules and regulations issued at the federal level and also by state and local authorities, which are allowed under Nigerian law to establish their own environmental protection bodies. 

Clients turn to our lawyers because we have deep experience with all relevant federal bodies, including, but not limited to, the:

• National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA)
• Federal Ministry of Environment
• Directorate of Petroleum Resources
• Department of Climate Change
• Energy Commission of Nigeria

We also have experience dealing directly with the environment protection bodies in each of Nigeria’s 36 states.

Defense Across a Wide Spectrum of Matters

Drawing on our lawyers’ many decades of dispute resolution experience and our multidisciplinary approach, we defend clients against a variety of environmental law challenges:

• Permit and licensing issues: We seek appropriate relief for clients whose permits and licenses are threatened with revocation for alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act, Harmful Waste Act, Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, Oil In Navigable Waters Act and other key pieces of environmental legislation.
• Regulatory agency enforcement actions: We develop strategies to help clients manage all aspects of agency enforcement, from the investigation and compliance monitoring stages all the way through to the legal action and possible prosecution phases.
• Civil lawsuits: Companies involved in oil, gas, mining and related activities continue to face serious civil lawsuits regarding pollution, alleged release of carcinogenic material, and other harms. Our lawyers have been instrumental in defending companies against such suits and shaping precedent for the future.
• Criminal defence: Some environmental laws, such as the Harmful Waste Act, contain criminal provisions that subject individual employees to arrest and prosecution. Our criminal defence team has successfully defended clients in cases involving alleged criminal air pollution, water pollution, improper waste disposal and other activities.