Police inspector, waste collector arrested over illegal dumpsite in Kwara

Kwara State Ministry of  Environment and Forestry said that it has arrested a police inspector and a waste collector for allegedly operating an llegal dumping site discovered last Thursday in Ilorin, the state capital.

The ministry, in a statement signed by its press secretary, Yakub Aliagan, on Friday, said that it discovered the illegal dump site along General Tunde Idiagbon International Airport Road, Ilorin in Ilorin West Local Government Area where some commercial waste collectors and other residents have been dumping their refuse in violation of the state environmental laws.

Aliagan said, “The ministry also apprehended one Inspector Adamu Usman, a police officer attached to the airport, who was allegedly aiding and abetting the illegal activity, and handed him over to the state police command, headquarters, Ilorin.

“State Commissioner for Environment, Nafisat Buge, who led the enforcement team to the area, said they discovered the site after putting the waste collectors on surveillance.”

“As you can see, we just discovered this illegal dump site that was created by some unidentified people. For instance, we found out that the majority of  commercial waste collectors dump their refuse here.

“We have always warned them against mismanaging their waste, and we let them know the penalty involved if any of them are caught,” she told reporters on Thursday evening.

“Fortunately yesterday, we caught one of them. We traced him from the airport road down to this place around 11 pm. That was how we discovered this massive illegal dump site.

“This place is very dangerous. You can see the dump site is located beside the airport and the Aviation College. A plane just took off now. This place does not meet up with the criteria for a dump site. We have an approved dump site around Oko Olowo Expressway, Sokoto Aiyekale precisely. But this place is dangerous for the airport and even the dwellers,” she added.

Buge said that the government has revoked the license of the erring waste collector, adding that he will also be made to pay a fine of N250,000.

The commissioner also said that the government is not relenting on the efforts to stop indiscriminate refuse dump, adding that not less than 124 offenders have so far been prosecuted.

“Out of these 124, eight have been jailed. The offences are majorly for indiscriminate dumping of refuse and illegal scavenging.

“We are not relenting as the enforcement of environmental standards is still ongoing and will continue until people stop dumping refuse indiscriminately. This is necessary because of the danger inherent in the bad habit.

“There has been a significant improvement in the way people now manage their waste since the Ministry started the enforcement exercise.

“We have been able to achieve about 70 per cent compliance within the few days we started. The majority of the streets where you always see debris on the road median and the other sides are no longer littered,” Buge said.

“People now keep their waste and dump it anytime our vehicles are passing. A large number of them are already patronizing the commercial waste collectors whose details we released a few days ago for public patronage. So, there has been a significant improvement.”