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Claim: Viral WhatsApp message allegedly from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns Nigerians about the current extreme air pollution harmful to health.
Verdict: False! The claim is recirculating and old. There is no agency in Nigeria like the Environmental Protection Agency, and there are no credible new reports on the claim.
Full Text
Harmattan is a well-known seasonal weather phenomenon in Nigeria, typically occurring between November and March, with its peak in December and January.
A message circulating on WhatsApp recently claims that the current hazy weather, commonly referred to as harmattan, is not harmattan but an extreme form of air pollution.
The post was said to be confirmed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which warns message warns that the condition is harmful to health. The message listed several precautions, urging recipients to share the information widely.
Parts of the message read, “ Dear Sir/Madam, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has informed us that the current weather is not harmattan, but an extreme form of air pollution that is harmful to health.”
We discovered that the message has also been shared on Facebook here, here, here and on Instagram.
DUBAWA decided to verify this information because of its virality and potential to cause fear.
Verification
We conducted a keyword search, and DUBAWA observed that no credible media organisation reported such an announcement or warning.
Since it was a message attributed to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we decided to research the agency and its social media handles. Our findings show that there is no agency named EPA in Nigeria. What we had was the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), which is now defunct, and its roles have been integrated into the Federal Ministry of Environment. The Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) was then created in 2007 to enforce environmental laws nationwide.
DUBAWA checked the official website and social media handles of NESREA but found no statement or publication linking the current harmattan weather to extreme air pollution.
To further verify the claim, DUBAWA contacted the phone number listed on NESREA’s official website. A representative of the agency dismissed the message, stating that it did not originate from NESREA and should be disregarded.
DUBAWA also found that the message is not new. Similar versions of the same claim have been circulating online since 2023 and 2024, particularly in Nigeria and Ghana. It resurfaces periodically during the harmattan season.
Conclusion
The claim is false. There is no agency in Nigeria like the EPA, and NESREA debunked the claim. DUBAWA also discovered that the claim is old and had earlier circulated in Nigeria and Ghana in 2023.
