By Abbas Nazil
The Abia State Commissioner for Environment, Philemon Ogbonna, has cautioned security agencies, particularly the Police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), against diverting environmental offenders to their offices instead of presenting them before the designated Environmental Court in Umuahia.
Ogbonna, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Ikechuckwu Oriuwa, raised the concern during an interaction with journalists after monitoring the monthly environmental sanitation exercise in the state capital.
He alleged that some officers of both agencies had made a habit of taking arrested sanitation defaulters into their barracks rather than ensuring that they faced the law at the High Court premises where the environmental court sits.
According to him, reports reaching the ministry indicated that some of the arrested offenders were used by the security operatives for manual labour in their offices, a practice which he described as unprofessional and unacceptable.
He maintained that the essence of the monthly clean-up and the legal backing of the environmental court would be defeated if offenders were not prosecuted according to the law.
The Commissioner stressed that the environmental court remains the only lawful authority empowered to try sanitation offenders and not the offices of security agencies.
On the sidelines of the monitoring exercise, the Chairman of the Abia State House of Assembly Committee on Environment, Kalu Mba-Nwoke, alleged that certain NSCDC operatives attacked members of the enforcement team at the FMC junction in Umuahia.
The lawmaker explained that an NSCDC officer, who was not in uniform at the time, refused to properly identify himself when questioned during the cleanup exercise.
Instead of cooperating, the officer reportedly called his colleagues who then descended on the enforcement officers, allegedly beating them and even tearing the uniform of one Abia State official.
Mba-Nwoke condemned the action and described it as an attack not only on the state’s authority but also on the ongoing efforts to maintain a clean and healthy environment for residents.
Meanwhile, the state environmental court recorded a total of 63 arrests during Saturday’s exercise.
Out of this number, 53 individuals were prosecuted and sanctioned in accordance with the law.
Ten others, however, were pardoned based on special circumstances such as health challenges, ongoing examinations, and for being underage.
Officials of the Ministry of Environment reiterated that the cleanup exercise was not meant to intimidate residents but to encourage communal responsibility in ensuring that Abia State remained clean and safe.
They emphasized that the law would continue to take its course against those who violated sanitation rules, warning that no amount of diversion or interference from security agencies would be allowed to undermine the process.
The Commissioner therefore called for better synergy among government ministries, enforcement teams, and security operatives to ensure that future sanitation exercises are carried out peacefully, lawfully, and without obstruction.
He further urged traders, residents, and community members to cultivate the habit of keeping their surroundings tidy at all times, reminding them that environmental health directly impacts public wellbeing.
Ogbonna concluded that Abia State would remain committed to strict enforcement of sanitation laws and to ensuring that justice is served fairly, warning that any attempt to frustrate this legal process would not be tolerated.
