The Lagos Waste Management Authority has arrested two suspects and sealed properties across Alimosho Local Government Area and adjoining Local Council Development Areas over environmental violations.
The operations, carried out by the Authority’s Project W.I.S.E enforcement team, targeted indiscriminate waste disposal, illegal dumping, and activities contributing to environmental degradation across the Ikotun axis and surrounding communities.
During a night surveillance operation, a 15-year-old boy, identified as Chukwudi Opara, was apprehended for illegally dumping waste at the Ikotun-Egbe roundabout at about 10:00 p.m. He was subsequently handed over to the task force office in Oshodi for appropriate action.
In a related development, the enforcement team sealed a car lot at Iroko Estate, LASU-Isheri Road, for discharging waste into the drainage, while a furniture showroom was also sealed for similar environmental infractions.
An intention-to-seal notice was also issued to a mini store at Diamond Estate for failure to patronise a registered Private Sector Participant operator in violation of waste management regulations.
The enforcement drive followed a public complaint from residents of Kaslat/Sarumi Street in Alimosho over the use of a gated undeveloped plot as an illegal dumpsite by cart pushers who burned waste on the premises. LAWMA sealed the property and arrested a 65-year-old security guard, Abubakar Yunusa, found to be complicit in the activity.
The Managing Director of LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, reiterated the authority’s commitment to sustaining enforcement operations across the state aimed at curbing environmental violations and promoting public health. He stressed that indiscriminate dumping of waste, burning of refuse, and patronage of illegal waste handlers remain serious offences under Lagos State environmental laws.
Gbadegesin vowed that the suspects would be prosecuted and urged residents to patronise only LAWMA-accredited PSP operators and report environmental infractions through official channels.
