At least, 124 persons have been arrested by the Ogun State Government for engaging in open defecation within the State.
The Special Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun on Environment, Ola Oresanya, said the arrested persons were prosecuted and sentenced to community service for contravening the State’s environmental and health laws.
According to Oresanya, 82 of the offenders were arrested in the Mowe-Ibafo axis of Obafemi-Owode Local Government area of the State.
The arrest, Oresanya said, was part of efforts aimed at ending open defecation and maintaining the environmental safety of the people.
“This bad habit which is mostly done late in the night and at dawn has negative implications on the immediate communities where they are practised,” Oresanya said, warning that the government would not watch some dirty individuals put the health of others at risk through their “shameful act”.
He stressed that the arrest of the offenders would be a continuous exercise, saying Ogun has zero tolerance for open defecation.
He warned drivers of trucks and their motorboys, especially along the Mowe-Ibafo axis to stop defecating on medians and roadsides, urging them to make use of public toilets provided by the State government.
Oresanya added that petrol stations and eateries in the State had been mandated to make their rest rooms available for public use as part of their corporate social responsibility.
