A special Offences Mobile Court in Oshodi, Lagos, on Monday sentenced a 48-year-old-man, Makinde Rasaq, who was arrested with a Honda SUV filled with refuse last week at Lagos Island to 13 months community service at Kirikiri Correctional Centre.
 
The accused, who faced seven-count charge, pleaded guilty to all the charges and was subsequently sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment with an option of community service for all the offences, totalling 13 months community service, which will be served at Kirikiri Correctional Centre.
 
The offences included breach of peace, indiscriminate dumping of wastes, non-patronage of Private Sector Partnership (PSP) operators, illegal transportation of wastes without a valid licence and obstruction of officers from carrying out their duties.
  
The convict was arrested in the act of illegally dumping refuse on Saturday night at the Tinubu Fountain in Central Lagos is suspected to be a member of a syndicate deliberately dumping refuse around the state to create a narrative that Lagos is dirty.
 
He was subsequently detained at Adeniji Adele Police station before he was handed over to Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officers for arraignment by the legal officials from the State Ministry of Justice.
 
Managing Director of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, who spoke on the conviction, said the message of the conviction is a declaration of zero tolerance on indiscriminate waste disposal message to everyone.
He warned residents to ensure proper waste disposal through patronage of the LAWMA accredited PSP operators as this is in accordance with the Environmental Laws of Lagos State.
 
He reiterated that residents should desist from the unwholesome waste disposal as generation of wastes is an unavoidable aspect of existence, adding that residents must always patronise  PSP operators for better service delivery.