Following serious environmental, socio-economic and health reasons, a coalition of scientists, farmers, food sovereignty advocates, environmentalists, nutritionists, women and youth groups and others has called on the Lagos State House of Assembly to as a matter national concerns put restrictions on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the state.
The members of the coalition which comprised of over 70 organisations in a joint position paper submitted during a mass awareness rally organised in Lagos on Thursday October 29, 2026 by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Environmental Rights Action (FoEN/ERA), Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Kebetcache Women Development and Resource Centre and the GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance, highlighted major risks regarding GMOs.
The group stated that the risks included the contamination and loss of Nigeria’s genetic resources/diversity due to cross-pollination from the genetically engineered crops; soil degradation resulting from transfer of toxins from GMOs such as the Bt Cowpea and Bt Cotton (produced by the introduction of the CRY1Ab toxins for the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis), loss of food sovereignty as the corporations control the seeds through patent rights and farmers have to buy seeds season after season-disrupting the age-long Nigerian/African culture of saving and sharing seeds.
Other concerns highlighted include risks of mutations and health complications, including immune disorders (manifesting as allergies), antibiotic resistance, birth defects, and tumours.
Speaking at the rally, HOMEF’s Director of Programmes, Joyce Brown, stressed that the pushback against GMOs is not peculiar to Nigeria or Nigerians, as over 30 countries of the world have either partial or total bans on GMOs.
She said; “In the European Union, France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Poland, Denmark, Malta, Slovenia, Italy, and Croatia have banned GMOs. Other European countries, including Switzerland and Russia, also have strict bans on GMOs. In Asia-Pacific, Australia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan, Japan, and Saudi Arabia have a ban on GMOs.
“In the Americas, Belize, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela have banned GMOs. In Africa, countries like Algeria, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe have banned both the import and cultivation of GMOs. Most of these countries cite threat to biodiversity as one of the major reasons for the ban,” she stated.
The Director further said that the call by the millions of Nigerians represented at the rally is for a ban on GMOs, including a reversal of permits already granted, and for an extensive investigation into the long-term health and environmental implications of GMOs.
Brown noted that if the Lagos State House of Assembly make the move, it will build on the earlier motion moved by the House of Representatives in 2024 for the suspension of GMOs and an investigation into approvals already granted.
She further said that a ban in Lagos State would inspire other states to make the right move to protect Nigeria’s food system and its environment.
Speaking in turn, Dr. Ifeanyi Casmir, a Molecular Biologist and Public Health Policy Analyst, stressed the need for Nigeria to adopt a precautionary, transparent and people-centred biotechnology policy, citing evidence of allergenic, toxicological, reproductive and ecological risks.
Casmir noted that the Nigerian food system, ecological diversity and public health are already under strain, thus adverse effects from GMOs would be costly and hard to reverse.
He further said; “GMO-associated exposures are not confined to the food on the plate. They are reported inside the human body, including in pregnancy. Cry toxins, engineered to kill insect pests, have been recovered in the blood of pregnant women and in umbilical cord blood, according to research. This indicates transfer across the placenta to the fetus, at the most vulnerable stage of life, and to a compound never assessed for fetal exposure”.
Also speaking, Mr. Olamide Martins, an Associate Director at CAPPA, highlighted major lapses in the national biosafety regulatory architecture, noting that although over 20 different products have been approved since 2016 for diverse reasons including commercial planting and use for food, feed and processing, there is no evidence of long term and independent risk assessment.
He emphasized that this was unacceptable as Nigeria food, environmental safety and food sovereignty hangs in the balance.
According to him; “A nation cannot secure its food future by surrendering control of its seeds, its biodiversity and its farming system to corporate control. Nigeria must protect the rights of its farmers to save seeds, preserve indigenous varieties and feed her communities through ecological, locally rooted and sustain-able agriculture” Speaking in turn, HOMEF’s project officer, Esele Ojeanelo noted that GMOs, largely because of patent requirements disrupts the rights of our local farmers to reuse their seeds, thereby forcing dependence on foreign corporations.
The group stated that to address the food challenges in Lagos State and in the nation at large, the government should tackle the insecurity that has kept farmers away from their farms; should provide adequate support to the smallholder farmers through effective extension service, provision of infrastructure, ensuring better access to land especially by women and youth as well as access to markets.
A statement by Kome Odhomor, HOMEF, Media and Communications Manager stated that the coalition also demanded that the government should invest in agroecology, an agricultural system aligned with nature in addition to a total ban on GMOs.
It noted that agroecology and agricultural system assures food security and food sovereignty while strengthening the local economy.
