BY AKINWALE ABOLUWADE, IBADAN
No fewer than 60 persons have been fined by the Oyo State Environmental Tribunal court for flouting the environmental sanitation laws.
The violators were reportedly arrested along the Bodija, Iwo-Road, Beere, Sapati, Elewi-Odo, Ojoo, Gate and Oke-Bola areas in Ibadan.
The Magistrate, Raheem Wasiu, stated that the offenders, caught dumping refuse in unauthorised areas, were found guilty for violating the environmental sanitation and waste management laws.
The offenders were charged with fines ranging between ₦5,000 and ₦25,000, depending on the degree of their offences. Three of the offenders opted for community services.
The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Abiodun Oni, lauded the Magistrate for his professionalism, saying that the current administration would leave no stone unturned in restoring environmental sanity in the state.
“How we take care of our environment, usually has an impact on stakeholder’s health. The law goes a long way in making the state a healthy one. Oyo State is a pacesetter state, a state we should be proud of and in making safe and healthy for all and sundry,” he said.
The Chairman, Environmental Task Force, ACP Francis Ojomo, said that the task force was working on the existing laws on environment and anyone who contravened the laws would be arrested and brought before the court.
In another development, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Rahman Abiodun Abdu–Raheem, and his counterpart in the Women Affairs and Social Inclusion Ministry, Alhaja Kafilat Olayiwola, visited the Primary, Secondary and Vocational section of the Oyo State Special Basic School, Ogbomoso to ascertain the standard of living and needs of the special students.
The visit was in response to a viral protest video by some of the students who lamented the poor feeding and the alleged diversion of food items by the management of the school.
The commissioners reportedly inspected the store where foodstuffs and other items were kept. However, Abdu-Raheem said that the claim by the students on poor feeding could not be substantiated.
