An Ogun State Magistrate Court sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, on Monday sentenced 14 persons to two weeks’ imprisonment with an option of a fine for indiscriminate waste disposal in parts of the state.
The Ogun State Waste Management Authority, in a statement on Monday, identified the convicts as Kareem Sherifat, Isiwat Ololade, Ojanuga Esther, Usman Babatunde, Blessing John, Falodun Bukola, and Agunbiade Titilayo.
Others are Oritogun Samson, Obasa Idowu, Solomon Adelani, Lateef Saidat, Taiwo Abimbola, Adeniyi Olayinka, and Precious Adeyeri.
According to the agency, the offenders were arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on illegal waste disposal and acts capable of endangering public health.
“Prosecuting the waste offenders on a two-count charge, Sanitarian Abolaji Dasaolu said that at about eight o’clock in the morning at Tekobo, Idi-Aba, in the Abeokuta Magisterial District, they were arrested after they dumped refuse on a public road, which emitted an offensive odour.
“The refuse attracted flies, leading to breeding conditions liable to spread cholera, which is dangerous to health, as well as the accumulation and depositing of refuse on public roads and drains, which are liable to block public drains and predispose flooding, dangerous to life and property, all of which are contrary to the Public Health Law of Ogun State 2006 and Section 34(1) of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority Law 2020,” the statement partly read.
It added that Justice O. Sam-Obaleye, while delivering the judgment, found all the waste offenders guilty of the two-count charge and sentenced them to fourteen days’ imprisonment or a N10,000 fine on each count.
“The magistrate also warned the convicts against future involvement in indiscriminate waste disposal, urging them to maintain good behaviour and stop dumping refuse on roads and other public places.
“She added that any of the offenders brought before the court again for similar offences would be sentenced without the option of a fine,” the statement concluded.
