The Kwara State Ministry of Environment and Forestry has announced the arrest of a police inspector and a waste collector for allegedly operating an illegal dumping site discovered last Thursday in Ilorin, the state capital, as reported by Punch.

The ministry, in a statement signed by its press secretary, Yakub Aliagan, on Friday, stated that the illegal dump site was found along General Tunde Idiagbon International Airport Road, Ilorin, in the Ilorin West Local Government Area. This site has been used by commercial waste collectors and other residents to dump their refuse, violating state environmental laws.

Aliagan said, “The ministry also apprehended one Inspector Adamu Usman, a police officer attached to the airport, who was allegedly aiding and abetting the illegal activity, and handed him over to the state police command, headquarters, Ilorin.

“State Commissioner for Environment, Nafisat Buge, who led the enforcement team to the area, said they discovered the site after putting the waste collectors on surveillance.”

“This place is very dangerous. You can see the dump site is located beside the airport and the Aviation College. A plane just took off now. This place does not meet up with the criteria for a dump site. We have an approved dump site around Oko Olowo Expressway, Sokoto Aiyekale precisely. But this place is dangerous for the airport and even the dwellers,” she added.

Buge said that the government has revoked the license of the erring waste collector, adding that he will also be made to pay a fine of N250,000.

The commissioner also said that the government is not relenting on the efforts to stop indiscriminate refuse dump, adding that not less than 124 offenders have so far been prosecuted.

“Out of these 124, eight have been jailed. The offences are majorly for indiscriminate dumping of refuse and illegal scavenging.

“We are not relenting as the enforcement of environmental standards is still ongoing and will continue until people stop dumping refuse indiscriminately. This is necessary because of the danger inherent in the bad habit.

“There has been a significant improvement in the way people now manage their waste since the Ministry started the enforcement exercise.

“We have been able to achieve about 70 per cent compliance within the few days we started. The majority of the streets where you always see debris on the road median and the other sides are no longer littered,” Buge said.

“People now keep their waste and dump it anytime our vehicles are passing. A large number of them are already patronizing the commercial waste collectors whose details we released a few days ago for public patronage. So, there has been a significant improvement.”