Kwara govt seals off buildings over non-compliance with environmental law

In an effort to ensure a cleaner environment and prevention of the cholera outbreak, the Kwara State Government, through the Ministry of Environment, has said it has sealed off eight buildings, violating environmental law, at Sabo-Oke, in Ilorin South Local Government Area of the State.

Hajia Nafisat Musa Buge, the Commissioner for Environment, made this known on Wednesday in Ilorin while fielding questions from journalists in her office.

Hajjia Nafisat Buge also affirmed the state government’s commitment to the sustainability of a clean, hygienic, and safe environment that the entire  Kwarans and potential investors would be proud of.

According to her, “It is no longer news that Environmental Health Officers across the 16 Local Government Areas of the State, have started the enforcement of environmental laws, most significantly, house to house inspection of toilet facilities, to sustain healthy living of residents.

“This development has started yielding positive results. Our environmental task force recently sealed off six buildings at Onikun-Kewu Street, Adabata. In the same vein today, another eight buildings have also been sealed off at Iponrin, Sabo Oke area, within the Ilorin metropolis, for violating environmental laws despite the incessant advocacy from the ministry on the need to stop open defecation and build standard toilets. To our dismay, some of the houses exposed human excreta to the environment through their defective soak away, which is dangerous to the healthy living of the residents in these areas,” she added.

The Commissioner, however, assured members of the public of the continued house-to-house inspection across the state to ascertain the level of compliance and enforce environmental laws to sustain healthy living for all.

She, therefore, charged Kwara residents to cooperate with the present administration to promote a clean and safe environment that will be habitable to all state residents.

Buge thereafter charged the landlords to ensure that standard toilet facilities were provided in their respective houses while warning that whoever was found wanting would be prosecuted in accordance with Section 5, Sub-section 2 of Kwara State Environment laws.