Four persons have been arrested and arraigned for allegedly attacking officials of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC).

A statement signed by LAGESC Corps Marshal, Mr Daniel Isiofia, on Wednesday said the officials were attacked while performing their lawful duties.

According to Isiofia, the hoodlums attacked the officials on Tuesday at Brown Street area of Oshodi while on their way to enforce the ban on the illegal dumping of refuse and street trading.

Two LAGESC officers – Olasilola John and Haastrup Ifealuwa – were seriously injured while a Black Maria used as an operational vehicle was badly damaged.

Meanwhile, a total of 24 persons including cart pushers, street traders, and some residents were arrested on Wednesday for dumping waste on road medians and canals, contrary to the Environmental Sanitation Laws of the state.

The suspects, who have been charged before the Special Offences Court sitting in Ogba, Ikeja, were arrested in an early morning operation carried out by LAGESC officials.

Giving details on the operation, Mr Isiofia who is a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, said the suspects were arrested after which revealed that cart pushers and some residents were indiscriminately dumping domestic refuse at sites not designated for waste disposal and canals.

“Recently, there has been clamour for cleaner Lagos and the governor has been very keen on making Lagos clean. To this end, he gave us the mandate to ensure that Lagos is kept clean by ensuring that acts that lead to the city to be dirty are curbed.

“We know that there have been massive efforts to clear the backlog of refuse on the road and our men went on surveillance and we eventually discovered where the cart pushers are operating at Ogunlana Street by Ogbomosho in Itire area. We raided the area and saw the cart pushers whose job is to collect refuse on payment from some residents who feel that they cannot dispose their refuse according to government directive and dump on road medians and canals.

“Often times, if you go to the canal at Itire-Ijesha area, you will see the cart pushers dumping refuse into the canal, thereby blocking the waterways which leads to flooding. So, with the determination to stop this menace, we raided them at about 4 am this morning (Wednesday) and we succeeded in impounding 150 waste carts used for this purpose and arrested 11 suspects while others fled,” he said.

Isiofia, however, advised residents to desist from indiscriminate dumping of refuse in public places, as well as patronising cart pushers and vowed that ongoing efforts to stop the menace would be sustained.

“We are going to sustain this process. I like to advise the operators of the waste carts to know that Lagos is not a place for them. They should leave Lagos or look for another job and to those who patronise them, if we get them, we will charge them to court because they are running afoul of the law,” he warned.


https://www.channelstv.com/2018/01/24/four-arrested-clashing-lagos-environmental-officials/

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