Abia Arrests 86 Over Sanitation Violations

The Abia State Government has arrested 86 sanitation defaulters for allegedly violating environmental regulations during the state’s monthly sanitation exercise.

The arrests were made in Umuahia and Aba on Saturday as the government intensified enforcement against indiscriminate waste disposal.

In Umuahia, 71 people were arrested during the exercise, while 24 others were discharged on health grounds or because they were students. Six of those arrested were sentenced to community service.

At the sanitary mobile court in Obingwa Local Government Area, Aba, 15 defaulters were arraigned before the court presided over by Nnanna Kalu.

Four of the defendants were discharged on health grounds, while the others were penalised under the state’s environmental laws.

Speaking to journalists in Umuahia after the exercise, the Commissioner for Environment, Philemon Ogbonna, warned residents against dumping refuse in drainages and waterways.

Ogbonna said anyone caught dumping waste into drainage channels would face the full weight of the law.

“That should stop. They are doing it and going free because nobody has seen them. If we see them, they will pay dearly for it. The weight of the law will fall on that person,” he warned.

The commissioner blamed recent flooding in parts of the state on blocked drainage channels caused by indiscriminate waste disposal, particularly during rainfall.

He said the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency and other relevant government agencies were working to keep drainage channels open, but some residents continued to dump refuse in waterways.

Ogbonna appealed to residents to take the monthly three-hour sanitation exercise seriously, stressing that maintaining a clean environment was a collective responsibility.

In Aba, the commissioner, who was represented by the Officer in Charge of the Aba Zone, Amarachi Goodluck, said traders in various markets had been educated on the need to support the sanitation exercise.

She said Aba residents largely complied with the exercise and urged them to sustain the practice.

However, Goodluck criticised traders who continued their businesses during the sanitation period, describing the practice as sabotage of the administration of Governor Alex Otti.

She urged residents to comply with the government’s environmental policies, saying the measures were designed to improve living conditions across the state.