From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The Oyo State Government on Saturday arrested 40 persons, impounding 50 vehicles and 75 motorcycles for violating state environmental sanitation laws.
The government had announced that the monthly sanitation exercise every last Saturday of the month would hold and restricted vehicular and human movement prior to the exercise, except those on essential services. The violators were taken before the State Environmental Tribunal.
The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Dr Idowu Oyeleke, led the enforcement team. On his entourage were Permanent Secretary of the ministry Dr Bashir Olanrewaju; Chairman, Environmental Task Force, Mr Francis Ojomo, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP); Special Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on Environment Ademola Aderinto; as well as Director of Environmental Health Services, security operatives, among others, during the monthly sanitation exercise.
Oyeleke stated that people were expected to observe the monthly sanitation exercise by taking care of their surroundings, saying: ‘It is a nationwide exercise, whereby each state adopts their own policy.
‘Here in Oyo State, the exercise is between the hours of 6:00 am and 9:00 am and of course, there is restriction of vehicular and human movement and anyone found on the road not on an essential service would be made to face the law as appropriate sanction would be given for disobeying the law of the land.
‘This is to let the people know that nobody is above the law of the land and people should be made to be a respecter of the law of the land. Those apprehended will serve as a deterrent to others that might want to do same next time.”
He appealed to citizens to take the exercise as a matter of obligation in order to make the state safer and healthier for people to live in and for smooth conduct of their commercial activities.
The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry, Dr Bashir Olanrewaju, stated: ‘We have so many communicable diseases COVID-19 is just one of them. Cholera, Lassa fever are still killing people. These things are caused by a filthy environment. It will also lead to unemployment as no investor would want to invest his business in a filthy environment.’