45 people get community service for ‘waste disposal’ in Ogun

The Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) has arrested 45 offenders and sentenced them to community service over indiscriminate waste disposal.

This is part of the agency’s continued effort to enforce the state environmental laws, which prohibit indiscriminate waste disposal.

The offenders were arrested in the Panseke, Quarry Road, and Onikolobo areas of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, after dumping waste indiscriminately on roadsides, highways, and other public places.

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The Special Adviser to the Governor on OGWAMA, Hon. Farook Akintunde, who addressed the offenders before the commencement of their community service, outlined the implications of their actions. He said the offence defaces the aesthetic beauty of the state capital, spreads diseases, especially airborne diseases, through indiscriminate waste dumping, and contaminates underground water sources, thereby posing health risks to residents of the state.

He expressed disappointment over their behaviour, describing it as unpardonable, especially considering the massive campaign against indiscriminate waste disposal being carried out through various media outlets, as well as the need for residents to patronise government-licensed waste collectors assigned to their communities.

Akintunde said that due to their pleas, written commitment not to violate the law again, and immediate enrolment with waste collectors in their respective areas, they would be allowed to carry out community service.

He warned that anyone caught again for the same offence would be prosecuted in accordance with the state environmental laws. He also warned other residents who are still in the habit of indiscriminate waste disposal to desist immediately or face unpleasant consequences in the near future.