No fewer than 50 residents of Osogbo, Osun State, have been arrested by officials of the state Waste Management Agency for allegedly dumping waste on the roads in the state capital.
The arrested persons included children, traders and nursing mothers.
The offenders were apprehended by a combined team of security agencies, including the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps at different locations in Osogbo.
OWMA officials had on Sunday evening gone round the capital city in their truck, picking up residents caught dropping refuse on road medians and other sides of the road.
Our correspondent gathered that the arrested offenders, who were loaded in the agency’s truck, were detained at a police station in Osogbo.
Confirming the arrest to our correspondent on the telephone, the General Manager of OWMA, Alhaji Ganiyu Oyeladun, said that the erring residents were arrested for flouting environmental laws.
Oyeladun said residents of the town had been warned against dumping waste on road sides and river channels but some of them had remained adamant.
He said the children arrested were not among those detained, adding that they were only cautioned and released immediately.
