The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has shut several markets and plazas in the Ayobo area of Lagos State for persistent environmental infractions and failure to adhere to its directives.
According to a statement issued by the agency, the enforcement operation was conducted on Sunday by the LAWMA Project WISE team in the Ikeja West District. The exercise forms part of the authority’s ongoing efforts to tackle waste accumulation and curb indiscriminate refuse disposal along the Ayobo-Ipaja axis.
LAWMA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, said the affected facilities were targeted because of their repeated breaches of environmental regulations despite previous warnings and directives from the authority.
According to him, the facilities sealed during the exercise included Rock of Age Plaza, Ajerogun I Market, Ayobo Market and Oba Plaza, all located within the Ayobo area.
Gbadegesin explained that the enforcement was carried out alongside the Authority’s ongoing waste evacuation and environmental sanitation activities in the area.
He said LAWMA’s operational teams had continued to remove accumulated waste from several locations within the axis, including Oluwaga Bus Stop by Sawmill, Ayobo Road median by Rainoil, Atan Nla by TCN, Ayobo Police Post and Megida Bus Stop, among other identified locations.
“The Authority would continue to combine waste evacuation with sustained monitoring and enforcement to ensure that cleared locations do not relapse into waste black spots, adding that lasting environmental improvement requires the cooperation of residents, traders, businesses and other waste generators in complying with approved waste disposal arrangements,” he said.
He noted that maintaining a clean environment would require the cooperation of residents, traders, businesses and other waste generators, particularly through compliance with approved waste disposal arrangements.
Gbadegesin reiterated that LAWMA would continue to take necessary enforcement measures against individuals, markets, plazas and other facilities found to be violating environmental regulations or contributing to indiscriminate waste dumping.
He appealed to residents and businesses operating in the Ayobo-Ipaja axis to support the ongoing intervention by patronising their assigned Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators and disposing of their waste through approved channels.
He also advised residents and businesses to avoid activities that could undermine the Authority’s efforts to restore and maintain environmental cleanliness across the area.
