The Lagos State Government, on Thursday, disowned a viral video where some uniformed impostors were promoting the sale of branded wastebaskets purportedly on behalf of the state.
Mr Tunji Bello, Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, said in a statement that all the characters in the viral video were fraudsters.
Bello said the characters did not represent the state government or any of its agencies.
He said that there was no unit or agency under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources that was named ”Lagos State Vehicle Waste Basket Enforcement/Compliance”, as portrayed in the branded vehicle which the fraudsters operated from.
He said that the dubious intent of the criminals in the video could be deduced from the fact that they operated from inside a van within an automobile workshop.
According to him, they were very dodgy about the kind of enforcement exercise they were supposedly carrying out.
The commissioner said the state government had always encouraged all buses, trucks and articulated vehicles to provide wastebaskets in their vehicles to discourage littering of the roads and streets.
He, however, said that the present administration had never recommended any branded wastebasket to Lagosians.
Bello said the development had been communicated to security agents to spread their dragnets toward apprehending the criminals and their cohorts, wherever they operated from, and bring them to book.
The commissioner, therefore, urged members of the public to report any incident of anyone claiming to represent the state government and coercing them to purchase any particular brand of wastebaskets for placement in their vehicles.
He implored owners and operators of buses, trucks and articulated vehicles in the state to continue to use wastebaskets of their choice in their vehicles.
This, he said, would discourage littering and ensure proper waste disposal.
