LAWMA Intensifies Clampdown on Unauthorised Waste Collection

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

No fewer than 14 persons were arrested over the weekend by officials of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) for alleged waste-related offences on Lagos Island.

The agency also seized scores of carts from suspected illegal waste collectors along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, a statement by its Director of Public Affairs, Mr Mukaila Sanusi, disclosed.

This is part of efforts by LAWMA to clampdown on illegal dumping, unauthorised waste collection across the metropolis, and strengthen compliance with waste management regulations and curb activities that undermine orderly waste collection and disposal.

The chief executive of the organisation, Mr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, disclosed that the Lagos Island operation covered Idumota, Oke-Popo, Tom Jones and Tinubu, where 14 persons were arrested for various waste-related offences, including the illegal disposal of waste into the lagoon.

He listed the arrested persons as Buhari Danbaba, 35 years, Ayo Akindele, 25 years, Shamsudeen Lawal, 25 years, Ibrahim Isiaka, 20 years, Azeez Alatilehin, 20 years, Quadri Adisa, 23 years, Ogunbado Sobur, 20 years, Salimonu Oluwadamilare, 29 years, Odunayo Arinola, 35 years, Azeez Roqeeb, 24 years, Sherifdeen Mudashiru, 31 years, Nurudeen Saliu, 19 years, Zazilo Bello, 21 years, and Augustine Eje, 35 years.

Mr Gbadegesin said that the authority also intensified enforcement against illegal waste collection along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway with operatives conducting an operation from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko and seizing scores of carts used for unauthorised waste collection.

He noted that unregulated waste collection and transportation could undermine the organised waste management system, particularly where waste is subsequently dumped at unauthorised locations.

The LAWMA boss stressed that the illegal disposal of waste, particularly into waterways, was capable of undermining the State’s environmental sustainability efforts, warning that waterways must not be treated as dumping grounds.

“The Lagos State Government, through LAWMA, will not relent in enforcing environmental regulations across the State. These enforcement operations are part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that residents, businesses and waste handlers take responsibility for the proper management and disposal of waste,” he stated.

Mr Gbadegesin urged residents, traders and businesses in the state to desist from indiscriminate waste disposal and patronise accredited waste collection operators, adding that waste should be handed over through the approved channels.

He warned that persons found dumping waste on roads, drains, waterways and other unauthorised locations, as well as those engaged in unauthorised waste collection, would face appropriate enforcement action in accordance with applicable laws.

He also appealed to residents to support LAWMA’s enforcement and waste management operations by maintaining proper waste disposal practices and reporting cases of illegal dumping and unauthorised waste collection through the authority’s established channels.