8 sentenced to community service over illegal waste dumping

An Abeokuta Chief Magistrates’ Court on Friday sentenced eight persons to community service over indiscriminate disposal of waste.

The convicts are: Abidemi Oyebanjo, Aminat Adewusi, Aminat Olarewaju, Omolana Olusola, Abiola Moridiya, Mary Olaogun, Abiodun Aromokun and Sylvester Iwenya.

They were sentenced on a two-count charge bordering on unlawful and improper waste disposal on public roads, and acts dangerous to health, life and property.

Delivering judgment, Magistrate A.K. Araba found the eight defendants guilty of the charges and sentenced them to community service within the court premises.

Araba further directed that the photographs of the convicts while carrying out the community service be displayed on the court’s notice board.

She warned that any of the offenders found guilty of a similar offence in the future would be jailed without an option of fine, to serve as a deterrent to others.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Mr Kehinde Ogunsola, a Medical Officer of Health with the Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA), told the court that the defendants committed the offences at different locations within the capital.

Ogunsola said the defendants were caught dumping waste on public roads between 6:15am and 8:05 am at Isale-Igbein, Car Wash and Abiola Way areas in Abeokuta.

He said the acts constituted environmental and public health hazards, noting that the waste emitted offensive odour, attracted flies and created conditions capable of spreading Cholera.

He added that indiscriminate dumping of refuse could also lead to flooding, thereby endangering lives and property.

According to Ogunsola, the offences contravene the provisions of Section 34(1) of Public Health Law of Ogun 2006, and the Ogun State Waste Management Authority Law, 2020.

Reacting to the judgment, the Special Adviser to the Governor and Managing Director of OGWAMA, Mr Farouk Akintunde, commended the judiciary for supporting the agency’s efforts to curb indiscriminate waste disposal in the state.

Akintunde promised that the authority would intensify enforcement activities across Ogun to ensure compliance with environmental sanitation laws.

He also urged residents to patronise accredited waste managers operating in their areas and desist from dumping refuse on roads and other public places.