Date: 2016-08-29

More than 25 people were on Friday arraigned before a mobile court sitting at Tanke Tipper Garage area of Ilorin, Kwara State capital for violating the state environmental sanitation law.

The offences for which the defaulters were charged included failure to participate in the exercise and roaming about when the duration of the exercise was yet to lapse.

The presiding judge at the court, who preferred to remain anonymous, said it is the duty of the judiciary to ensure that various sections of the law were obeyed.

He stated that most of the offenders deliberately decided not to observe the sanitation while the law must take its course.

The judge imposed N500 fines on the offenders upon being found guilty of the offences slammed on them.

The Herald On Sunday observed that while many of the accused paid the sum, others who could not afford it were taken to the detention facility of security agencies.

Meanwhile, there was a mild drama yesterday at the mobile court when security agents gave one of the sanitation offenders a hot chase as he attempted to flee from the court.

The accused had been ordered to be detained in police facility pending when he could afford the fines imposed on him by the court.

The Herald On Sunday gathered that the accused was asked to board the waiting vehicle of the police from 'F' Division Tanke of the state police command but sneaked out of the hilux van and ran away.

One armed policeman and two Man O' War officers trailed the accused, rounded him up and was later taken to the police station.

In a related development, human and vehicular movements were restricted yesterday in major roads in Ilorin metropolis following the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, which took place across the 16 local government areas of the state.

Speaking with journalists after the exercise, the state Commissioner for Environment and Forestry, Otunba Taiwo Joseph said Kwara was revered as the cleanest state in the country, saying the exercise was carried out to consolidate on the clean bill of record enjoyed by the state.

He said despite the current financial crisis, the state government was magnanimous to approve fund for the sustainability of the exercise.

The commissioner hailed the people of the state for turning out enmass for the exercise, adding that the little they could contribute was to maintain clean environment.

He praised the police, Civil Defence Corps and Man O' war for providing adequate security for the exercise.

He restated the commitment of the state ministry of environment in ensuring clean and green environment just as he acknowledged the government for prioritizing clean environment.

Also speaking, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Alhaji Babatunde Ajeigbe, called on residents of the state to abide by the rules and regulations guiding the sanitation exercise. Ajeigbe vowed that all mobile courts would be rearranged to make them more effective in adjudicating on cases involving sanitation offenders.

He also promised that the ministry of information would embark on more advocacy, and provide statistics of the offenders.

Source: HeraldNews