21 environmental offenders bag 44 months community service in Lagos
The Lagos State Task Force said it had secured the conviction of 21 people who were arrested for street trading, operating illegal bus stops, illegal ticketing, and road blockage to a combined 44 months of community service.
This was disclosed by Raheem Gbadeyan, spokesperson for the task force, in a statement on Thursday.
According to Gbadeyan, the convicted persons were arrested during a clean-up operation at Iyana-Iba and the Ojo area of the state.
He noted that during the operations, 15 males and six females were arrested and prosecuted before the mobile court, while goods displayed on the roads were seized.
He stated, “The areas visited during the operation include Iyana-Iba and other adjoining roads where some recalcitrant street traders displayed their goods on the newly constructed roads and were constituting a nuisance on the highways, walkways, and other adjoining roads on the stretch of Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
“During the raid exercise, a total number of 21 suspects were arrested, comprising 15 males and six females suspected street traders. All the goods and wares displayed on the roads were confiscated, and sanity was restored in all the areas.
All the suspects have been charged to court accordingly.
“The arrested suspects who were obstructing the government officials from carrying out their lawful duties were sentenced to two months of community service at Badagry Correctional Centre, while the goods confiscated had been forfeited to the state in line with the State Government Environmental Sanitation Laws of 2017 and Transport Sector Reform Laws of 2018.”
In his reaction to the sentencing, CSP Adetayo Akerele, Chairman of the agency, through Gbadeyan, stressed that trading on highways impedes traffic flows and causes unnecessary stress for road users.
“Akerele warned against trading on the highways that impede the free flow of traffic on our roads, which increases the travel time of innocent motorists.
“The chairman enjoined all street traders, illegal ticketers on the highways, and operators of unapproved bus stops to desist henceforth or face the long arm of the law,” Gbadeyan added.
Mobile courts in Lagos had, in the past, handed down community service sentences to environmental offenders.
In October 2023 that a mobile court convicted 26 environmental offenders to community service in a similar crackdown.
These sentences indicate the state government’s intolerance of environmental offences.
