Court Jailed 40 Persons for Environmental Offences in Ilorin
A Magistrate Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, has sentenced 40 persons to three months imprisonment each for violating the state’s Environmental Law, INCNews247 reports.
The defendants, all residents of Ilorin, were arraigned on charges ranging from indiscriminate disposal of refuse, encroachment, and illegal scavenging.
They pleaded guilty to the offences.
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Presiding Magistrate Saidu Tunde Abdulkareem sentenced the defendants to three months imprisonment each, with an option of N50,000 fine, in line with the provisions of the State Environmental Law.
Thirty-one defendants were arrested for indiscriminate disposal of refuse, while nine were apprehended for illegal scavenging.
State Commissioner for Environment and Forestry, Hon Nafisat Buge, welcomed the judgment, saying the motive behind the enforcement of the Environmental Law was to prevent disease outbreaks, flood disasters, and other dangers associated with indiscriminate dumping of refuse.
INCNews247 recalls that the Ministry recently inaugurated a task force to arrest individuals breaching environmental standards, and a Mobile Court to prosecute offenders.
Buge urged residents to use designated dump sites or commercial waste collectors for proper waste management, warning that the exercise would continue until unlawful dumping of refuse stops.
