The Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, ASEPA has arrested 59 persons for various offenses in the Saturday environmental clean-up exercise in the State.
Those arrested in various parts of Umuahia were brought before the Abia State Environmental Court. And were charged for contravening the Abia State Government’s basic environmental laws.
According to reports, the culprits were picked by Task Force officials in Umuahia, the Abia State Capital. They were, however, brought to the Umuahia High Court and arraigned before Margistrate Onyinyechi Ibekwe.
DAILY POST reported that while some of the defaulters were picked for loitering on the road, others were arrested at the business premises. These were acts in defiance of the Abia State Government’s warnings for full participation in the exercise.
Addressing journalists after the exercise, the Abia State Commissioner for Environment, Philemon Ogbonna expressed satisfaction with the exercise.
Represented by the Director in charge of the Ministry of Environment, Rev. Udechukwu Ukachukwu, the Commissioner, however, regretted some aberrations. She noted that some residents still went about playing football on the streets during the 7 am to 10 am environmental sanitation hours.
The Chairman of the Abia State House of Assembly Committee on Environment, Kalu Mba Nwoke, expressed satisfaction with security operatives in the exercise. He noted that policemen in September were involved in extortion of environmental offenders and diversion of arrested defaulters.
The lawmaker, however, stated that the extortion and diversion of defaulters by the police were not reported in the October edition of the clean up exercise .
Nwoke, therefore, commended the Abia State Police Command for the development.
He said, “The meeting the Commissioner had with them yielded the result. We say kudos to the Nigerian Police. They have even promised us that by next month they will deploy their men for the exercise to succeed.”
source: Daily Post
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