Cowpea damage caused by pest infestation is a major challenge to farmers and traders in Nigeria which request urgent response. This research is aimed primarily to evaluate the proximate composition and degree of infestation effect on cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) nutrients. The samples of cowpea were randomly collected in the Lapai market, refrigerated for a week to stop insect action and were separated into two categories, non-infestation (sample without exit hole) and infestation (samples with one, two and three exit holes), Samples were subjected to proximate composition and statistical analyses for variation in nutrient. Results show a rise in protein and moisture content in the sample without infestation. But shows a decrease in Carbohydrate, Fat, Fibre and Ash content in non-infested samples. For the infested sample, infestation leads to significant deterioration of nutrients of food products developed from cowpeas. The current result shows that pest infestations reduced nutritional benefits as a protein source in livestock and human diets.

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This research was conducted to assess the levels of heavy metals in fish tissue, sediment and water body, at river Ndakotsu, Lapai, Niger state, Nigeria. River Ndakotsu is the major river that serve as a boundary between Lapai local government and Agaie local government and is useful to surrounding towns and villages for irrigation farming fishing and domestic purposes. Due to this, it is necessary to monitor the level of heavy metals contamination in the water body, sediment and aquatic species tissue habiting this environment. The study water samples were collected using water sampler in three different locations. Equally, In-situ water physicochemical parameters such as temperature, ph and dissolve oxygen were determined using portable multi probes meter. Fish samples were collected from fishermen immediately they arrived from fish exploration and specimen were digested using concentrated nitric acid in wet digestion technique. The level of selected heavy metal in samples were determined by the use of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS model: Accusys 211 USA) after samples dilution. The water quality of the river was within the acceptable range for fresh water species. The concentration of heavy metals, cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn). From the results obtained from this study, the concentrations of heavy metals (Mn, Zn, Cd, Cu, Pb and Fe.) found in all the water samples are lower than that in the fish sample species and higher in sediment sample than fish sample