Coalition Petitions NHRC, FCCPC, seeks prohibition of GMOs in Nigeria

By Oluwakemi Kindness

The GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance on Friday petitioned the National Human Right Commission and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) demanding the ban on the use and consumption of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) in Nigeria.

The Alliance consisting of experts, farmers, women, youth groups and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) submitted their protest letter to the agencies in Abuja during a rally led by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF).

The rally which held simultaneously across 10 states of the federation is stressing that the prohibition of GMO is a health necessity describing GMO as “poison.”

“The state are Rivers, Edo, Katsina, Plateau, Oyo, Lagos, Cross Rivers, Enugu, Jigawa States and the FCT”.

Speaking while submitting the protest letter on behalf of the alliance, the Coordinator, Food Sovereignty Programme and Friends of the Earth, Mariann Orovwuje, decried that most of staple food in the country have been genetically modified.

According to her, there is an increase in people who are having allergies and a lot of people children, who normally will not have cancers, are having cancer.

“So we want, we are coming to the Human Rights Commission to present our petition to you, so you will look into it that Nigerians, we do not want GMOs.

“Nigerians have all it takes to feed our people, our farmers, if they are supported, if they have good infrastructure, they can feed this country and even export some food outside.

“So we have come to the Human Rights Commission to look at this, it is not just an infraction but an abuse of our human rights.; because if our food is abused, we are equally abused,” she said.

For the Director Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Harry Obe, who received the petition at the Human Rights Commission commended the alliance for the peaceful approach.

He said that issue of GMO fits directly into the mandate of the commission saying that the petition will be analyse and necessary actions will be taken.

“This is the National Human Rights Commission, and our establishment is specifically for the protection and promotion and then enforcement of human rights in Nigeria.

“We are also supposed to provide a platform, which we do on regular basis, for healthy discussion on human rights issues.

“So on behalf of the Executive Secretary of the commission, Doctor Tony Ojukwu, we have accepted this petition. We shall analyze it, and we will get back to you as soon as possible,” he said.

Obe urged the general public to always approach the commission whenever they feel that their rights are being violated and their complaints will be addressed.

GMOs are products of genetic engineering that allow scientists to create plants, animals, and micro-organisms by manipulating genes at the cellular level in a lab.

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