In a report by Punch newspaper, the Kwara State government has taken legal action against five landlords in Ilorin for failing to provide toilet facilities in their residential properties. This move is part of the state's ongoing efforts to ensure a cleaner and more hygienic environment for its citizens.

The Acting General Manager of the Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency, Hajia Idayat Folorunso, made this known on Saturday during a sensitisation and cleaning exercise at Mandate Market, Ilorin West Local Government Area. The exercise was a collaborative effort with the Foundation for Dry Tap and River Basin Rejuvenation, which supported the initiative by providing waste evacuation trucks and donating 240-litre waste bins to traders in the market.

Hajia Idayat urged market traders to maintain cleanliness, stating that the government is committed to keeping all parts of the state clean and hygienic. She added that the legal action against the landlords serves as a warning to others, as the state government intensifies its drive for improved sanitation.

Idayat said, “The Kwara State government under the leadership of the governor, Mallam AbdulRaman AbdulRazaq, has said that the state should be clean to make it free from the outbreak of diseases. Therefore, I urge the traders to maintain a clean environment.

“The government has promulgated environmental laws under which environmental offenders would be tried, and this has been in effect in the state. You have heard that a few days ago, KWEPA sealed up five houses in Ilorin, and their landlords, were arrested to face prosecution before the court.

“They would pay fines ranging from N50,000 or more if they are found guilty by the court.”

Idayat stressed the need for strict adherence to sanitation practices to prevent disease outbreaks and also, to ensure customer satisfaction.

She also emphasised the need for timely sensitisation outreach to prevent flooding and related disasters during the rainy season.

The acting General Manager, KWEPA, reaffirmed the Honourable Commissioner for Environment, Hajia Nafisat Buge’s commitment to their officers to revisit the market to ensure proper and regular sanitation exercise.

Meanwhile, Arewa PUNCH reports that KWEPA officers have begun to enforce strict sanitation practices in the state.

Some of their latest moves include moving erring marketers away from the waterways and clearing the meridian to allow for the free flow of vehicular movements and water.

During the cleaning exercise, the Environmental team defied the rains by clearing all the blocked drainage systems to allow the free flow of water while the wastes found in the market were collected and parked into the truck provided.

The spokesman of the Foundation, Mr Aliu Abdulateef, who said that the foundation partnered with the Kwara State government in its clean environment program to prevent the outbreak of diseases in the state, maintained that the foundation has been operating in about 24 states across the country, executing various programs.

In his reaction, the Babaloja of Mandate Market, Alhaji Muritala Tambaruku, expressed the traders’ gratitude to the government for the sensitisation exercise, adding that the markets would maintain a clean environment in the market.

However, Tambaruku appealed to the government to construct more drainage systems across the market, rehabilitate the roads, and provide toilet facilities in the market.