The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has intensified its enforcement operations across Lagos, arresting 14 persons over alleged waste-related offences on Lagos Island and confiscating scores of carts allegedly used for unauthorised waste collection along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, disclosed this at the weekend, saying the operations demonstrated the authority’s commitment to enforcing waste management regulations and curbing activities that undermine the state’s organised waste management system.
According to him, the Lagos Island operation covered Idumota, Oke-Popo, Tom Jones and Tinubu, where 14 persons were arrested for various alleged waste-related offences, including dumping refuse into the lagoon.
The suspects were identified as Buhari Danbaba, 35; Ayo Akindele, 25; Shamsudeen Lawal, 25; Ibrahim Isiaka, 20; Azeez Alatilehin, 20; Quadri Adisa, 23; Ogunbado Sobur, 20; Salimonu Oluwadamilare, 29; Odunayo Arinola, 35; Azeez Roqeeb, 24; Sherifdeen Mudashiru, 31; Nurudeen Saliu, 19; Zazilo Bello, 21; and Augustine Eje, 35.
LAWMA Targets Illegal Waste Collection
Gbadegesin said the authority had also stepped up enforcement against unauthorised waste collection along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
He disclosed that operatives conducted an operation from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko, seizing scores of carts allegedly used for illegal waste collection and transportation.
The LAWMA chief explained that unregulated waste collection could undermine the state’s organised waste management system, particularly when refuse collected was subsequently dumped at unauthorised locations.
He also warned against disposing of waste in waterways, noting that such practices could jeopardise the state’s environmental sustainability efforts.
Residents Warned Against Indiscriminate Dumping
Gbadegesin urged residents, traders and business owners to desist from indiscriminate waste disposal and patronise accredited waste collection operators.
He stressed that refuse should be handed over to authorised operators through approved channels.
The LAWMA boss warned that anyone caught dumping waste on roads, drains, waterways and other unauthorised locations, or engaging in illegal waste collection, would face appropriate enforcement action in accordance with applicable laws.
He further urged residents to support the authority’s enforcement and waste management operations by adopting proper waste disposal practices and reporting incidents of illegal dumping and unauthorised waste collection through LAWMA’s established channels.
