Open Defecation: Ogun Arrests 124 Offenders, Sentences Them To Community Service

Mr. Ola Oresanya, SA To Ogun State Govt On Environment & OGWAMA CEO

Open Defecation: Ogun Arrests 124 Offenders, Sentences Them To Community Service 

As parts of its zero tolerance for open defecation, the Ogun State government said it has arrested 124 offenders for contravening the State’s Environmental and Health Laws.

The offenders, according to a statement issued by Mr. Ola Oresanya, Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment and Chief Executive Officer, Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA), and availed to this medium by the Agency’s spokesperson, Rotimi Oduniyi, were apprehended at various locations across the State, with 82 of them were arrested at Mowe-Ibafo axis in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area, were subsequently sentenced to various community services.

Speaking on the arrest, Mr. Oresanya said “the offenders were apprehended as parts of efforts at stopping the indecent habit,make the state open-defecation free and maintain the environmental safety of the people.

“The bad habit which are mostly done late in the night and at dawn have negative implications on the immediate communities, where they are practised and the State at large, especially during this period that the world is ravaged by pandemic”.

Oresanya stated that the State government will not fold its hands and watch few dirty individuals putting the health of the majority at risk through their shameful act.

The OGWAMA boss also reiterated that arrest of offenders will continue as the State has zero tolerance for open defecation. He warned drivers of articulated vechicles and their cohorts who transit the State especially, the Mowe-Ibafo axis to stop defecating on medians and roadsides while on stopovers, urging them to visit public toilets provided by the State government for their conveniences instead of engaging in such ignominious practice.

Oresanya also used the opportunity to announce that all Petrol stations and Eatries in the State have been mandated to make their conveniences available for the public as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), while the state government has also identified over one hundred other locations for construction of more public toilets through public-private partnership as part of  government’s efforts at making the state open defecation free.

He therefore called for cooperation of all households, Community Development Associations and visitors to the state to make this a reality.

editor

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