A Special Offences Mobile Court sitting in Oshodi has sentenced a 48-year-old man, Makinde Rasaq, to 13 months of community service at Kirikiri for illegally dumping refuse in Lagos.
The sentence followed Rasaq’s arrest last week at Lagos Island while driving a Honda SUV loaded with waste. According to a statement shared by the Lagos State Government on Tuesday, he was arraigned on seven counts and pleaded guilty to all the charges.
The court imposed different jail terms with an option of community service for each offence, which together amounted to 13 months of community service.
The offences included breach of public peace, indiscriminate dumping of waste, failure to patronise approved Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators, illegal transportation of refuse without a valid licence, and obstruction of government officials while carrying out their duties.
Rasaq was arrested on Saturday night while dumping refuse at the Tinubu Fountain area in Central Lagos. Authorities said they suspect he may be part of a group deliberately dumping waste in public places to make the state appear unclean.
After his arrest, he was detained at the Adeniji-Adele Police Station before being handed over to officials of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) for prosecution by legal officers from the Lagos State Ministry of Justice.
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Reacting to the ruling, the Managing Director of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Dr Muyiwa Gbedegesin, described the conviction as a clear warning that the state would not tolerate indiscriminate waste disposal.
He urged residents to obey environmental laws by using LAWMA-accredited PSP operators, stressing that keeping Lagos clean is a shared responsibility.
Gbedegesin added that while waste generation is unavoidable, residents must abandon illegal dumping and embrace proper waste management practices
