By Kazeem Akande
Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area (LCDA) has officially inaugurated “Operation Red-Handed” enforcement to tackle the challenges of open defecation and urination, indiscriminate dumping of refuse and other environmental offences.
The LCDA Chairman, Mr Ayinde Akinsanya, said in his remarks during the inauguration on Wednesday that the new environmental enforcement personnel would be targeting illegal refuse disposal, defecating and urinating in public places across the community.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the council inaugurated the taskforce to curb the menacing challenges following the Lagos State Government enforcement against environmental defaulters.
Akinsanya said that public defecation and urination, and indiscriminate waste dumping on roads, drainages and road medians had become a major threat to public health and community wellbeing.
He warned that the council would no longer tolerate actions that defaced the environment or caused flooding.
“Under Operation Red-Handed, trained environmental officials will monitor hotspots and apprehend anyone caught urinating, defecating and dumping refuse illegally.
“Offenders will be prosecuted according to environmental laws.
“We are serious about this enforcement and nobody will be spared. Anyone caught by our officials will be prosecuted without preferences.
“The community deserves environmental sanity and we can’t continue like this,” the chairman said.
Akinsanya urged parents and guardians to caution their children and wards, stressing that ignorance would not be accepted as an excuse.
He added that the council was committed to maintaining a clean, safe, and orderly environment.
Akinsanya, however, assured residents that the initiative would be supported by continuous public awareness and improved collaboration with waste management operators and community leaders.
Mrs Bose Adelani, a resident of the Ikotun Community, said that the reason people dumped refuse on the street was because of the delay by the Private Sector Participants (PSP) operators in evacuating household refuse.
Adelani said that majority of the households in the community suffered the same challenges where they jampacked refuse for weeks waiting for the waste collectors.
She appealed to the council chairman to take proactive measures in tackling challenges confronting the waste managers at the dump site. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Christiana Fadare
