An Offences Mobile Court sitting in Oshodi on Monday convicted and sentenced a 48-year-old man, Makinde Rasaq, to 13 months of community service for committing multiple sanitation-related offences in Lagos State Lagos State.
Rasaq was arrested last week on Lagos Island while allegedly dumping refuse illegally from a Honda SUV.
He was arraigned on seven counts, to which he pleaded guilty.
Following his plea, the court imposed varying jail terms with an option of community service for each offence. The sentences were subsequently consolidated into 13 months of community service, to be served at Kirikiri.
According to a statement from the Lagos State Ministry, the offences included breach of public peace, indiscriminate dumping of refuse, failure to patronise accredited Private Sector Participation (PSP) waste operators, illegal transportation of waste without a valid licence, and obstruction of government officials in the discharge of their duties.
The convict was apprehended on Saturday night at the Tinubu Fountain area in central Lagos. Authorities suspect that he may be part of an organised syndicate deliberately dumping waste in parts of the state to create a false narrative that Lagos is dirty.
After his arrest, Rasaq was initially detained at the Adeniji-Adele Police Station before being handed over to officers of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps, popularly known as Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI), for prosecution by legal officers from the Lagos State Ministry of Justice.
Reacting to the conviction, which has since gone viral, the Managing Director of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Dr. Muyiwa Gbedegesin, described the judgment as a clear signal of the state government’s zero tolerance for indiscriminate waste disposal.
Gbedegesin warned residents to comply strictly with proper waste disposal practices by patronising LAWMA-accredited PSP operators, in line with Lagos State environmental laws.
He stressed that while waste generation is inevitable, residents must shun unhealthy disposal practices and cooperate with authorised operators to ensure a cleaner and healthier environment for all.
