Ogun community seeks end to open defecation, refuse dumping

Residents of Ibafo Kara, in Ogun State, have appealed to the government to help address the twin problems of open defecation and indiscriminate waste dumping they are grappling with in the community.

Our correspondents who visited the community on Thursday observed that the practices, often carried out by individuals from neighbouring communities, were causing significant health and environmental concerns.

Some residents, who spoke with PUNCH Metro in separate interviews, lamented that open defecation in the area had become a particularly pressing challenge that must be frontally confronted by the government. A trader, who identified herself simply as Mrs Shade, expressed her frustration with the situation, stating that people from a section of the country “are spoiling the neighbourhood with their unsanitary habits” while calling on the government to intervene by providing adequate sanitation facilities to prevent a disease outbreak.

She said, “There are a lot of refuse here every day and anytime I want to cross to the other end of the road, what I see is nothing to write home about. The Mallams in this area just come and pour their waste bin in the median, while some come from their streets and defecate there, especially at night. Please, let the Ogun State Government help us.”

Another resident, Mr. Alani, reechoed these concerns, highlighting the overflowing gutters hindering water flow and posing a threat to the roads. He urged the government to take action by sending workers to clear the gutters and install nets to prevent further contamination.

He said, “We don’t like the way refuse is dumped in the median in this area. The government is trying its best to eradicate it but we the citizens need to stop the dumping of refuse for the benefit of society at large. At the same time, we need the government to enforce the law and help us clean the road medians of refuse.”

An official of the local garage in Ibafo, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, also raised concerns about the impact of indiscriminate waste dumping and emphasised the need for stricter regulations to prevent bike riders from passing through the community indiscriminately, saying this act contributes to the littering problem. He called on the government to provide regular cleaning services to maintain the environment.

He said, “”The road users especially the okada riders are used to taking one way and that is very bad. It can cause accidents. The government should help us curb that and take a look at the gutter. There is no free flow of water because of the dumping of refuse in the gutter. The government should help us.

When contacted on Thursday, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Ministry of Environment,  Mr. Rotimi Oduniyi, said the government had undertaken surveillance in the Ibafo-Kara area, and that they had arrested some people currently doing their community service.

He said, “There is surveillance around that area. We have arrested a lot of people who are doing their community service, and very soon, there will be the deployment of mobile courts to the area to keep an eye on these people. We have spoken to the residents in the area, telling them about the public toilet in the area, and that they should use it rather than using the median.

The most important thing is that we are going to relocate the Ibafo-Kara Market. We have given them a time limit of Tuesday, December 31, to move the market. They will move to the international market around the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, so that the issue will be resolved totally, and the Ogun State Government will take full charge of the market.”

He added that after the relocation, the government would take charge of the area and clean it up, as it is a border town that links most of the states in the southwestern region.

He also spoke about trading on the Ibafo bridge, saying, “We have warned them times without number and they still go back there. We just have to keep pleading with them and the people walking on the bridge to stop patronising them there. There is a lot of space in the market that they can use. We have appealed to them and have seized some goods but they still go back there. They come in there with the excuse that they have to feed their families and take care of children. We have to keep pleading with them.”