Laide Raheem, Abeokuta

Determined to maintain a clean environment and reduce constant flooding, the Government of Ogun State has arrested and prosecuted 128 environmental offenders.

The offenders apprehended and prosecuted in the state capital, Abeokuta, and other major towns such as Ijebu-ode, Sagamu, Ota, Ifo, Mowe and Ibafo, were found guilty of dumping refuse on roads, medians, water courses and canals.

Disclosing this to journalists on Saturday in Abeokuta, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment and Head of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA), Mr Ola Oresanya, said the offenders who pleaded guilty were subsequently fined between N5,000 and N10,000.

He added that the offences contravened the state environmental laws, thereby aiding flooding that destroyed public and private properties as well as infringing on public peace and safety.

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Oresanya noted that the successful prosecution of the environmental offenders will serve as a deterrent to others, urging residents of the state to patronize waste managers assigned to their areas.

According to him, the state government, had since January 2020, accredited and assigned 120 PSP Waste Managers to various local governments for effective collection of refuse.

This, Oresanya emphasised, was meant to stop illegal dumping of refuse, the spread of diseases and destruction of public and private infrastructure.

While promising that the state government will continue to invest in waste management infrastructure, the Special Adviser urged members of the public to support the various initiatives of government through its waste management cellular economic programs such as waste-recycling, waste-use and waste-reduction.

He also reiterated the state government’s commitment to bequeath a safe and clean environment, maintaining that ‘the enforcement of the state environmental laws will continue through the arrest of erring members of the public by the state Environmental Health Personnel and the Nigeria Police, Ogun State Command.’