A 45-year-old man, Imeh Bassey, has been arrested and is set to face prosecution for illegally dumping refuse on the median of Ikorodu Road, near the Ketu bus stop in Lagos.
Bassey was apprehended around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday by the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) monitoring squad.
The arrest was confirmed in a statement by Kunle Adesina, spokesperson for the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.
According to the statement, Bassey was caught in the act of dumping waste on the busy road.
A subsequent investigation linked the refuse to the banana section of the Ketu fruit market.
“It is a criminal offence to discharge waste on road medians or roadsides,” Adesina stated, emphasizing that such actions violate environmental laws meant to maintain cleanliness and public health in Lagos.
In a video obtained by PUNCH Metro, Bassey admitted that he had been paid N500 by someone connected to the market’s national union to dispose of the waste.
However, he was unable to identify the individual who hired him.
A LAWMA official involved in the arrest said surveillance and enforcement operations have been intensified across the state to clamp down on illegal waste disposal.
“Offenders will be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent,” the official added.
Bassey is expected to be arraigned soon as the agency continues its crackdown on environmental law violations in the state.