Onitsha, in Nigeria’s South East, has been tagged the world’s most polluted city, according to data obtained from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to the report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Onitsha produced pollution “levels of nearly 600 micrograms per cubic metre of PM10s – around 30 times the WHO recommended level of 20 micrograms per cubic metre,” to get the unenviable rating.
Onitsha, along with three other Nigerian cities, Aba, Kaduna and Umuahia, featured in the top 20.
Onitsha’s figures are nearly twice as bad as notoriously polluted cities such as Kabul, Beijing and Tehran and 30 times worse than London.
“Air pollution has risen by eight percent globally in the past five years,” resulting in three million premature deaths yearly, WHO says.
A recent study of Onitsha’s water pollution found more than 100 petrol stations in the city, often selling low-quality fuel, dozens of unregulated rubbish dumps, major fuel spills and high levels of arsenic, mercury, lead, copper and iron in its water.
The city’s many metal industries, private hospitals and workshops were all said to be heavy polluters emitting chemical, hospital and household waste and sewage.
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