No fewer than 45 residents of Ogun State have been arrested by the State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) and sentenced to community service for the indiscriminate disposal of waste products.
The offenders were arrested in the Panseke, Quarry Road and Kolobo areas of the state capital after dumping their waste indiscriminately on roadsides, highways and other public places.
The arrests, made on Thursday, are part of efforts to enforce the state environmental laws.
Addressing them before their community service, the Special Adviser to the Governor on OGWAMA, Farook Akintunde, outlined the implications of their offences to include defacing the aesthetic beauty of the state, spreading airborne diseases, as well as contaminating underground water in the state capital.
He expressed disappointment, stressing that their behaviour was unpardonable, especially with the massive campaign mounted against indiscriminate dumping of waste in various media outlets and the need to patronize government-licensed waste collectors assigned to their communities.
Akintunde said that due to their pleas and written commitment not to run foul of the law again, as well as their immediate enrollment with the waste collectors in their areas, they would be allowed to carry out community service, warning that anyone caught again for the same offence would be prosecuted according to the state environmental laws.
He also warned other residents of the state who are still in the habit of dumping waste indiscriminately to stop forthwith or face unpleasant consequences in no distant time
