By Awyetu Asabe Hope
The Lagos State Government has intensified enforcement against illegal waste dumping and other environmental offences as part of efforts to improve sanitation and reduce flooding.
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, announced the move on Wednesday during an inspection of the government-cleared median on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
Wahab said the government had invested heavily in restoring the area and would permanently patrol it to prevent illegal occupation and indiscriminate waste dumping.
“We have done the work on the ground. The operation is once and for all, and we will patrol the area forever,” he said.
He dismissed calls to concession the cleared space for landscaping, explaining that it had been reserved for a future rail corridor.
The commissioner blamed indiscriminate waste disposal by residents and traders for worsening flooding during heavy rainfall, urging households to patronise Private Sector Participation operators or the Lagos Waste Management Authority where such operators were unavailable.
He described dumping refuse on road medians as unacceptable, stressing that approved waste collection channels were already in place.
Wahab assured residents that the government would continue expanding waste evacuation services and supporting PSP operators to improve efficiency.
He disclosed that more than 1,000 environmental offenders had been prosecuted in the past year, stressing that enforcement remained key to ensuring compliance with environmental laws.
Explaining flash flooding, Wahab said it occurs when heavy rainfall coincides with high lagoon or sea levels, delaying stormwater discharge, but noted that floodwaters usually recede within hours after rainfall stops.
He added that the state government was expanding drainage infrastructure and implementing other engineering measures to address persistent flooding in vulnerable communities.
