Mobile court convicts 21 environmental offenders in Ilorin

The mobile court set up by the Kwara State government to prosecute environmental offenders on Thursday convicted 21 offenders, just as 12 others are awaiting trial.

The Director of Environment, Mary Mustapha, disclosed that the convicts were fined between N2,000 and N10,000.

According to the spokesman of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC,) Ayoola Michael Shola, those arrested during the monthly enforcement were first brought to the NSCDC facility from where they were moved to the Ministry of Environment for arraignment.

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It would be recalled that the state government on Monday, inaugurated a 300-man surveillance taskforce to check indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the Ilorin metropolis of the state capital.

The Commissioner for Environment, Hajia Nafisat Musa Buge, at their inauguration at the ministry’s conference hall, warned that “indiscriminate dumping of refuse is a general phenomenon that requires urgent attention, most especially in the Ilorin metropolis.

“The only solution to eradicate it is to aggressively commence a rethinking of sustainable waste management by the government and sensitize the people on the dangers inherent in dumping refuse indiscriminately.”

The commissioner emphasized that members of the public must cooperate with the government and its agencies to find a lasting solution to the problem to forestall the outbreak of diseases, especially cholera, which is already ravaging some states in the country.

The new strategies listed to be employed by the ministry to permanently eradicate indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the state.

“It is illegal to dump refuse on road medians, road dividers, roundabouts, gutters, drainage channels, and waterways,” the government said.

The new strategies also forbid anybody displaying wares/goods beyond the gutter on the roadsides for trading activities and will be penalized if caught in the act.

While administering the oath of allegiance to members of the task force, Chief Magistrate Ibrahim Dansuki stressed the need for the committee to adhere strictly to environmental laws to avoid litigations.