LAWMA Arrests 14, Seizes Carts as Lagos Intensifies War on Illegal Waste Disposal
…Authority warns residents, traders and illegal waste collectors against turning roads, drains and waterways into dumping grounds
Fourteen persons have been arrested and scores of carts seized as the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) steps up enforcement against indiscriminate waste disposal and unauthorised waste collection across the state.
The latest enforcement operations, which took place on Lagos Island and along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, are part of efforts to protect communities from the environmental and health problems associated with improper waste disposal.
For residents and businesses, the consequences of indiscriminate dumping are often visible on the streets, in blocked drains and around waterways, where discarded waste can create unpleasant surroundings and contribute to flooding and other environmental problems.
LAWMA Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, said the latest operations demonstrated the Authority’s determination to enforce Lagos’ waste management regulations and tackle activities capable of undermining the state’s organised waste disposal system.
On Lagos Island, LAWMA enforcement operatives covered Idumota, Oke-Popo, Tom Jones and Tinubu, where 14 persons were arrested for alleged waste-related offences, including the disposal of waste into the lagoon.
Those arrested are Buhari Danbaba, 35; Ayo Akindele, 25; Shamsudeen Lawal, 25; Ibrahim Isiaka, 20; Azeez Alatilehin, 20; Quadri Adisa, 23; Ogunbado Sobur, 20; Salimonu Oluwadamilare, 29; Odunayo Arinola, 35; Azeez Roqeeb, 24; Sherifdeen Mudashiru, 31; Nurudeen Saliu, 19; Zazilo Bello, 21; and Augustine Eje, 35.
Along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, LAWMA operatives conducted an enforcement operation from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko, seizing scores of carts allegedly being used for unauthorised waste collection.
Gbadegesin explained that unregulated waste collection could weaken the state’s organised waste management structure, particularly when waste collected outside approved channels eventually ends up on roadsides, drains, waterways or other unauthorised locations.
He stressed that waterways should not be treated as dumping grounds, warning that indiscriminate disposal of waste could undermine Lagos’ environmental sustainability efforts.
“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,” Gbadegesin said.
The LAWMA boss urged residents, traders and businesses to stop indiscriminate waste disposal and patronise accredited waste collection operators.
He also warned that individuals found dumping waste on roads, drains, waterways and other unauthorised locations, as well as those involved in unauthorised waste collection, would face enforcement action in line with applicable laws.
Beyond the arrests and seizure of carts, LAWMA appealed to residents to become part of the solution by adopting responsible waste disposal practices and reporting cases of illegal dumping and unauthorised waste collection through the Authority’s established channels.
For a city of Lagos’ size and population, keeping waste off the streets cannot rest entirely on enforcement. The Authority’s latest operation also places the responsibility on residents and businesses to ensure that the waste generated in their homes, shops and workplaces ends up where it belongs—not in drains, on roads or in the waterways.
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