The Ogun State Government on Thursday arrested 124 offenders for contravening the state’s environmental and health laws.
The offenders arrested in various locations across the state for engaging in open defecation were sentenced to various community services.
Mr Ola Oresanya, Special Adviser to the governor on Environment, said that the offenders were apprehended as part of efforts aimed at stopping the indecent habit in the state.
Oresanya said that it would make the state free from open defecation and ensure environmental safety of the people.
He noted that the bad habit which was mostly done late in the night and at dawn had negative implications on the immediate communities and the state at large.
Oresanya said the state government would not fold its hands and watch few dirty individauls put the health of the majority at risk through their shameful act.
He reiterated that arrest of the offenders would continue as the state had zero tolerance for open defecation.
Oresanya warned drivers of articulated vehicles and their cohorts who transit the state especially the Mowe-Ibafo axis to stop defecating on medians and roadsides while on stopovers.
He urged them to visit the public toilets provided by the state government for their convenience instead of engaging in such ignominious practice.
Oresanya, also the Chief Executive Officer of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA), said that petrol stations and eateries in the state had been mandated to make their convenience available for the public as part of their corporate social responsibility.
He said the state government had identified over 100 other locations for construction of more public toilets through public-private partnership as part of government’s efforts at making the state open defecation free.
He, therefore, called for cooperation of all households, Community Development Associations and visitors to the state to make this a reality. (NAN)
