Date: 2016-10-30

One hundred and sixteen people were convicted for various sanitation offences by Mobile Courts, during the October month end sanitation in Ilorin, Kwara.

The News Agency of Nigeria correspondent reports that the convicts were arrested and prosecuted for driving and loitering about among other offences, during the monthly sanitation contrary to the Sanitation Laws of the state.

NAN also reports that there was improvement in compliance as against the last exercise.

This might be reason for the reduction in number of convicted offenders from 150 in September to 116 in October.

They were convicted and sentenced to pay fines by Mobile Courts situated at strategic locations in Ilorin. Speaking with reporters shortly after the exercise, the State Commissioner for Environment and Forestry, Otunba Taiwo Joseph, commended the people for their compliance.

He said that the present administration is totally committed to environmental cleanliness of the state.

The commissioner explained that with a clean & conducive environment, visitation to clinics and hospitals by citizens would be reduced drastically.

Joseph said that the conviction and sentence of offenders would serve as deterrence to other would be defaulters in future.

"We must keep our environment clean. It is a law and we must abide by it. There is no excuse for non-compliance with the sanitation law," he said.

He also commended the active participation of the youth in the exercise by cleaning their environment and also serving as sanitation enforcers through voluntary organisations like Man 'O' War, Red Cross, Sheriff Guide among others.

In a related development, two hundred and forty-five persons were convicted by two separate Mobile Courts in Benin for violation of the state's Sanitation and Pollution Management Law No 5 of 2010.

Mr Samson Erhaze, Senior State Counsel, Edo ministry of Justice and Mr Plus Oiwoh, Head of Legal Services, Edo Ministry of Environment, gave these statistics to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin.

The counsels said while some of the offenders were convicted for violation of sanitation, others were convicted for wandering and obstructing sanitation officials from discharging their duties.