The management of Renecon Limited, a dredging firm, has debunked the allegations against its activities being the cause of mass deaths of tilapia fishes in Epe area of Lagos, labelling the accusations as untrue in its entirety.
On Sunday, March 17, officials of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) had visited the site of Renecon located at Epe, in response to a trending social media video made by the tilapia fish farmers of their losses in Ebute Afuye cluster of Epe town, following the death of many tilapia fishes in the area.
Speaking with newsmen recently, Managing Director of Renecon Limited, Anthony Bademosi, said that this is the second petition by unknown persons to LASEPA against his company, adding that the first petition collapsed after due and diligent investigations and wondered how his company activities, which is far away from the location of the fish farm, could have caused the unfortunate circumstances.
Bademosi said, “We believe that some powerful interests, using the instruments of state agencies, want to get rid of us in Epe. Renecon Limited operates under extant laws both within the federal and state government environmental rubrics.
“We have conducted our activities well and are in good terms with our local stakeholders. So, for some faceless and alleged fish farmers to want to frame us as the oxygenators of the unfortunate mortality of caged tilapia fishes in Epe is not only pedestrian, but a failed clever diversionary tactics to bring us down.
“We have done our best to cooperate with LASEPA in their investigations in the past and are ready to cooperate with them now and in the future. However, a situation where our representatives are not allowed to witness the collection of samples is unacceptable to us.
“Furthermore, we have informed our lawyers to help us track down the persons behind the very unsavoury petition with hope to call them out and not allow them to disrupt our operations and set us up against the host community which has been supportive of our presence here.”
Read Also: Meeting with FG in deadlock, strike continues – SSANU
and then