Igando-ikotun: Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area (LCDA) has officially inaugurated ‘Operation Red-Handed’ enforcement to tackle the challenges of open defecation and urination, indiscriminate dumping of refuse, and other environmental offences. The LCDA Chairman, Mr Ayinde Akinsanya, said in his remarks during the inauguration that the new environmental enforcement personnel would be targeting illegal refuse disposal, defecating, and urinating in public places across the community.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the council inaugurated the task force to curb the menacing challenges following the Lagos State Government enforcement against environmental defaulters. Akinsanya stated that public defecation and urination, and indiscriminate waste dumping on roads, drainages, and road medians had become a major threat to public health and community wellbeing. He warned that the council would no longer tolerate actions that defaced the environment or caused flooding.
Under the ‘Operation Red-Handed’, trained environmental officials will monitor hotspots and apprehend anyone caught urinating, defecating, and dumping refuse illegally. Offenders will be prosecuted according to environmental laws. Akinsanya emphasized that the enforcement is serious, and no one will be spared. Anyone caught by the officials will be prosecuted without preferences, as the community deserves environmental sanity.
Akinsanya urged parents and guardians to caution their children and wards, stressing that ignorance would not be accepted as an excuse. He added that the council is committed to maintaining a clean, safe, and orderly environment. However, Akinsanya assured residents that the initiative would be supported by continuous public awareness and improved collaboration with waste management operators and community leaders.
Mrs. Bose Adelani, a resident of the Ikotun Community, mentioned that the reason people dumped refuse on the street was due to the delay by the Private Sector Participants (PSP) operators in evacuating household refuse. Adelani stated that the majority of the households in the community suffered the same challenges where they jampacked refuse for weeks waiting for the waste collectors.