The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources enforcement teams on Saturday arrested 103 people in Nasarawa for violating environmental sanitation laws.

Abubakar Mohammed, the chief prosecuting officer of the ministry, disclosed this in Lafia after the state’s monthly sanitation exercise.

He said the offenders were arrested by the team across the 13 local government areas of the state for transacting their private businesses while the sanitation exercise was in progress.

Mr Mohammed said the offences violated section 9 (2) of the State Environmental Sanitation Law. He explained that the offenders were prosecuted by various mobile courts across the state to serve as a deterrent to others.

Meanwhile, Yakubu Kwanta, the commissioner for environment and natural resources, expressed satisfaction at the level of compliance with the sanitation exercise.

The commissioner said about 90 per cent of the residents complied by locking up their shops and businesses to clean their surroundings during the exercise.

Mr Kwanta lauded the traditional rulers, chairmen of area councils, and security agencies for the success of the exercise. 

“We only allowed those with permission from relevant authorities and those on essential services to pass and move around during the exercise,” he added.

Mr Kwanta noted that the ministry had strengthened the capacity of the inspectors and deployed them to rural areas for house-to-house inspection to enhance efficiency.

He called on the public to always keep their environment clean to guard against outbreaks of diseases.

“Residents should cooperate more with the government towards ensuring that the state is clean in their best interest. If the environment is kept clean, it will guard against a possible outbreak of any disease, thereby ensuring improved healthy living of the people,” he added.

The commissioner said the ministry had issued notices to residents to clear the drains around their houses and business premises to prevent flooding. 

(NAN)