Lagos, Ogun threaten to prosecute open defecation offenders

The Ogun and Lagos state governments have announced plans to enforce and prosecute individuals engaging in open defecation, particularly in the border towns they both share.

The Special Adviser to the Governor of Ogun State on Environmental Protection Agency, Oluwadare Kehinde, disclosed this during a joint press briefing with his Lagos State counterpart, Dr Tunde Ajayi, at Berger in Lagos on Thursday.

According to him, the move was aimed at preventing the outbreak of communicable diseases like cholera and diarrhea especially in the border towns of Mowe, Magboro, Warewa, Kara and Isheri.

Kehinde said the enforcement team would start operation at the end of the sensitisation campaign and would work in shifts to apprehend and prosecute offenders with relevant environmental laws.

He said, “This will serve as a deterrent to others as anyone caught will face the wrath of the law. A situation where people defecate openly in open places, especially on the median of roads in these border towns is not acceptable to the Ogun State Government. So, the need for a lasting solution which has to do with enforcement and prosecution if this latest appeal and sensitisation fails to yield the desired results becomes imperative.

“This step becomes necessary as the Ogun State Government has several newly constructed public toilets across the state including the border towns as credible alternatives, so anyone caught will not be spared.

“More concerning is the health  implications of this open defecation on the residents of the state as they portray the state in bad light which will not be tolerated.”

Kehinde therefore warned those still practising open defecation to turn a new leaf by patronising public toilets near them or face the consequences of their action.

The General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, Ajayi, on his part, said there was a need to raise awareness among residents of the border towns of the two states on the danger of open defecation.

He added that there would be a special focus on the median from the OPIC Plaza, Kara, Berger, and Otedola Bridge inward the Lagos end of the newly rehabilitated Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

He however disclosed that the cleaning of the medians of human faeces had begun as there would be enforcement to sustain the efforts.