[1][2] The agency functions as a parastatal enterprise of the Federal Ministry of Environment, and it is headed by a director general, who is also the chief executive officer of about 483 companies in the NESREA corporate family.

[6][7] The act establishing NESREA was amended in 2018 to accommodate changes in the conditions of appointment of council members, stiffer penalties for defaulters, and other related matters.

[10][11] The functions of FEPA were folded into the structures of the Federal Ministry of Environment, which is the policy-making body for environmental matters in Nigeria.

The agency has recorded a number of seizures of species and animal parts that were being transhipped through its ports, and it has prosecuted some prominent cases, including non-nationals, some of whom were sentenced to serve prison terms.

[27] NESREA (alongside other government agencies) discovered shiploads of obsolete and used electrical and electronic equipment that were about to be dumped within the country, turning them back to their ports of origin.

Nigeria is currently witnessing a boom in the use of technological equipment leading to the massive production of electronic waste in urban centers.

[28][29][3][30] In July 2009, NESREA hosted the International Conference on E-Waste, otherwise known as the Abuja Platform, which was focused on addressing the problem on a wider scale.

[citation needed] The agency commissioned a weekly TV and radio series,NESREA Watch, which had a cast that included popular Nigerian artists like Kiki Omeili.

[37] This led to a split between them and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), who argued that NESREA had no jurisdiction to regulate the telecommunications sector in the country.

[42] Since the amendment, the agency administereds stringent penalties and fines for environmental offenses such as poaching or illegal trafficking of wildlife, including endangered species.