Ogun State government has commenced investigation into illegal dumping of industrial waste along the bush stretch of Long Bridge along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
   
The state’s commissioner of Environment, Ola Oresanya, told The Guardian that the state would trace sources of the waste and arrest the culprits.
The fallow land inward Lagos has recently witnessed large dumping of industrial waste without corresponding actions from the state government. 
   
Oresanya noted that since 2020, the state had initiated regulatory reform on waste to check illegal and indiscriminate dumping of waste. The commissioner said, industries are registered to ensure timely collection of their waste and safety of residents and citizens in the reform. He said: “Generally, we have a policy on industrial wastes and many have complied.
 
“The regulatory reform started in 2020. So far, we have registered more than 80 per cent of industries in the state, and their wastes are being collected as at when due, but we don’t want to rule out defaulters.
   
“We’ve been going out to arrest defaulters whenever we see them.  The Long Bridge issue may be an exceptional case, because there is possibility for illegal collectors in Lagos to stray into border towns in Ogun State.
 
“I am going to investigate and trace where the waste is coming from. You can be assured that we will halt the situation and get the culprits arrested.”
   
On the number of arrests made so far, the commissioner said: “We have made numerous arrests. In the last three years, we have impounded 30 vehicles and subjected them to fines, even big multinational companies have been arrested engaging in this kind of illegality in Ogun State. 
 
“They were used to illegal ways of doing things, but with time, they will get used to doing the normal thing, when they see that the regulators are not relenting, they will conform.”