(Ecofin Agency) - A consortium comprising producers, environmentalists and groups of Nigeria’s civic society urged the National Bio-safety Management (NABMA), national food regulatory agency, to reject commercialization of genetically modified maize and cotton, News Agency of Nigeria reports.

The consortium decided to oppose the approval of GMOs introduction in the Nigerian market as Monsanto Agricultural Nigeria Limited submitted NABMA, a field trial project involving two varieties of genetically modified maize and to be carried out in various localities of the country. The firm also requested approval for the commercialization of GM cotton in Zaria’s market and other localities.

The news came as a cold shower on farmers and environmentalists who fear consequences, not only economic but sanitary most importantly. “It has brought nothing but economic misery to the cotton sector. On March 20, 2015, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that glyphosate (present in GMOs) was cancerous. There is also scientific evidence that glyphosate poses serious risks to the environment,” environmentalist and member of the consortium, Nnimmo Bassey, said Monday in a press release.

The consortium, which regroups more than 100 entities, for 5 million Nigerians, hopes to convince NABMA not to repeat the “fiasco” associated with GM cotton experiment in other countries, namely Burkina Faso.