The Osun State Government’s Environment Taskforce on Tuesday arrested a resident caught dumping refuse indiscriminately in Osogbo, the state capital.
In a video shared by an aide to Governor Ademola Adeleke, a woman was seen being asked to enter the taskforce’s waiting vehicle.
The specific location where the woman was arrested was, however, not disclosed in the video.
The woman was heard appealing to those who arrested her not to capture her face.
A voice in the background was heard scolding the defaulter, lamenting that despite several jingles by the state government, some residents still disobey the directive.
The arrest comes days after the state government warned that anyone caught dumping refuse on roads would be made to sweep the street, pay a N50,000 fine and be paraded publicly before the media.
The Commissioner for Environment and Deputy Chairman of the Osun Environment Committee, Mayowa Adejoorin, had lamented that residents have abandoned proper waste disposal methods and resorted to dumping refuse on roads at night.
“Instead of getting a waste bin and engaging waste collection companies, residents have resorted to dumping their refuse on the road. They usually do this at night, and the state government has been clearing the waste because we do not want the state to become dirty,” Adejoorin had said.
He warned that the road is not a waste bin and that a taskforce has been put in place to apprehend violators irrespective of who they are.
“Everybody should look for the proper way to dispose of their refuse. The road is not a waste bin. We are going to evacuate all the refuse, but it has become law that anyone caught dumping refuse on the road will face the consequences,” he stated.
Also, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Affairs and member of the Committee, Muniru Raji, had disclosed that market leaders from Igbona, Orisunmibare, Sabo, Ota-Efun, Kobongbogboe, Oke-Fia, Alekuwodo, Sasa, Oke Baale, Olu Ode, Station Road and Owode Ede markets were invited to a sensitisation meeting over indiscriminate dumping by traders along major roads.
The task force reiterated the government’s commitment to keeping Osun clean and urged residents and traders to engage accredited waste collectors and stop dumping refuse on roads and drainages.
