Kwara Court Jails 40 Scavengers, Environmental Law Offenders

An Ilorin Magistrate’s Court, on Friday, sentenced 40 persons to three-month jail term each over violation of Kwara State environmental law.

The convict, who are residents of Ilorin, were arraigned on different charges, ranging from indiscriminate disposal of refuse, encroachment, and illegal scavenging.

They all pleaded guilty to the offences preferred against them before the mobile court.

The presiding Magistrate, Saidu AbdulKareem, thereafter, sentenced them to three-month imprisonment each, with an option of N50,000 fine, in line with the provisions of Section 5, subsection 1- 4 of the State Environmental Law.

31 of the convicts were arrested for indiscriminate disposal of refuse, while nine were apprehended for illegal scavenging, according to the charge sheets.

The State’s Commissioner for Environment and Forestry, Hon. Nafisat Buge, who hailed the court’s judgement, said the motive behind the continuous enforcement of the environmental law was to curb the outbreak of diseases, flood, and other dangers inherent in indiscriminate dumping of refuse.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the Ministry of Environment recently inaugurated a task force to arrest offenders caught breaching environmental standards, particularly improper disposal of waste, encroachment, and illegal scavenging.

“The task force commenced enforcement on Tuesday, and they made some arrests. We have a Mobile Court here in the Ministry that prosecutes them just like what we witnessed today (Friday),” the Commissioner stated.