With growing lamentations over the high cost of cooking gas and kerosene, residents of Kogi State now have a new situation to contend with: the state governnent has banned the pproduction and possession of charcoal there.
State Commissioner for Environment Mr Victor Adewale Omofaiye dropped the disheartening news as a growing number of people have reported to the cheaper means of cooking in the hard economic times.
Omofaiye, in a statement on Friday in Lokoja, the state capital, disclosed that the production of charcoal is illegal and highly prohibited.
He warned that any person or group of persons caught producing or in possession of the product shall be arrested and prosecuted in the court of law.
“Any vehicle caught carrying charcoal shall be impounded by the Kogi State Government,” he added.
It is not exactly known how the government plans to enforce the ban in the state known for its high poverty rate
