No fewer than 37 persons were on Saturday apprehended in Ekiti State during the monthly environmental sanitation.
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Following the arrest of the offenders in various parts of Ado Ekiti, the state capital, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Babatunde Alokan disclosed that they were charged to court for appropriate punishment.
“We allowed only vehicles with permission from relevant Ministries, or those on essential services to pass through and move around during the exercise”.
He called on members of the public to always keep their environment clean to guard against outbreaks of diseases.
Alokan, however, applauded the residents for complying adequately with the exercise. He urged the court to sanction the culprits to serve as deterrent to others would-be offenders.
At the Court where the offenders appeared, and after listening to the submission of the prosecutor, the Presiding Judge, Magistrate Olubunmi Bamidele charged all the 37 offenders with a fine N5,000 each.
The General Manager, State Environmental Protection agency, Mr Olukayode Adunmo, advised and encouraged the residents to sustain the habits of cleanliness and make it a daily affair to ward off any form of diseases.
He appealed against dumping of waste in drainage and canal to avoid flooding.
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“This is rainy season, I want to advise the good people of our State not to dump their waste in drainage system and canal because they will be blocked, and this will lead to flooding. So, to avert flooding let all of us keep to sanitation rules and regulations”, he said.
“It is how we treat our environment that the environment will treat us. So we must treat our environment well to ensure healthy living.”
Adunmo said the residents should cooperate more with the government in their own interest to ensure that the state remains clean.
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The last Saturday of every month is set aside by the Ekiti State Government for the sanitation exercise.