Sanitation officers at the Ojudu Abiodun area of Ogun State have lamented the lackadaisical attitude of the residents of the area towards environmental sanitation.
According to the sanitation officers, the residents of the border community have refused to participate in the monthly exercise because they spend more time in Lagos, where they have their jobs and businesses, than in Ogun State.
One of the sanitation officers, who simply identified himself as Lanre, said the residents had always insisted on not observing the exercise, because they work in Lagos and reside in Ogun.
He alleged that in many cases, the residents fight and beat them up.
“Most of the residents claimed they cannot observe the exercise because they are working in Lagos State. In most cases, they fight us and threaten to beat us. Today, it took the intervention of council chairman for a few of them to comply,” he said.
Another sanitation officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that he was assaulted by one of the residents, who claimed to be a lawyer by profession.
“I was physically assaulted by a lawyer, who said sanitation law was not meant for him. He slapped me and attempted to tear my uniform. It was a police officer at Ojodu Abiodun who prevented from carrying out his threat,”
he said.
Meanwhile, some fake sanitation officers have been arrested by police.
The residents claimed that the fake officers were in the habit of arresting bike riders and collecting money for bail.
It was also learnt that some of the fake sanitation officers were already taking some ‘okada’ away before they were caught by the police.
A resident, Wale Aloba, revealed that the fake officials had been coming to the area to arrest commercial motorcycle operators, popularly known as ‘okada’, on monthly basis.
“They come to this area every month and arrest bike men and residents. It was God that said they will be arrested today,” he said.
Another resident on Kosoko Street, who did not want to be identified, also said: “Law enforcers should always wear uniforms to avoid problems like this. If they don’t wear uniforms, how will one recognise them? I think they gave the fake officers the opportunity to
operate.”
Meanwhile, the head of the sanitation team, Mrs. Ganiyat Adeyemi, confirmed to our correspondent that the corps had been facing series of challenges from residents of the Ogun community.
She said the residents had not been complying with sanitation rules because of the proximity of their community to Lagos, where the monthly sanitation exercise had been
canceled.
“In most cases, they engage us in fisticuffs. This morning, we had to engage some policemen to help us to enforce the law. Even at that, one man also came here to assault us,” Adeyemi said.
She, however, called on the government to find better means of compelling Ogun residents to comply with sanitation rules.
