Court Orders Community Service for Ogun Residents Over Improper Waste Disposal

A magistrate court in Isabo, Abeokuta, sentenced eight people to community service for dumping waste indiscriminately.

The offenders—six women and two men—were caught between 6:15 and 8:05 a.m. on Friday, discarding rubbish on public roads at Isale‑Igbein, Car‑Wash, and Abiola Way in the Abeokuta Magisterial District.

Sanitarian Kehinde Ogunsola, Medical Officer of Health for the Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA), charged the suspects on two counts. He said the waste emitted an offensive odor that attracted flies capable of spreading cholera.

Ogunsola added that indiscriminate dumping endangers public health, causes flooding that threatens lives and property, and violates the Public Health Law of Ogun State, 2006, and Section 34(1) of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority Law, 2020.

In his judgment, Justice A.K. Araba found the eight defendants—Oyebanjo Abidemi, Aminat Adewusi, Aminat Olarewaju, Omolana Olusola, Abiola Moridiya, Olaogun Mary, Abiodun Aromokun and Iwenya Sylvester—guilty and ordered community service to be carried out within the Isabo Magistrates Court.

The judge also directed that photographs of the offenders while performing community service be posted on the court’s notice board. He warned that any repeat offence would result in imprisonment, with no option for a fine, to deter others.

Special Adviser to the Governor and Managing Director of OGWAMA, Farouk Adeniyi Akintunde, welcomed the judgment, praising the judiciary for its correct interpretation of the laws and its support of the authority’s anti‑dumping campaign.

Akintunde pledged that OGWAMA would intensify enforcement across the state to curb indiscriminate waste disposal. He urged residents who still dump waste on roads and public places to use the waste managers assigned to their area or to face court proceedings if caught.