CP Gbemisola Akinpelu (Rtd), the Corps Marshal of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), popularly known as KAI, has reiterated that officers of the Agency carry out their statutory responsibilities in consonance with the law.
The Corps Marshal spoke in response to a newspaper publication captioned: “Lagos Agency Arrests Residents over Waste Bills”.
She explained that the affected residents were arrested after refusing to comply with a bench warrant issued by the Lagos State Magistrate Court, Bolade-Oshodi.
Her words: “The legally-sanctioned operation was a follow up to a bench warrant issued in respect of over 150 buildings and individuals in the Alimosho Local Government Area (LGA) of the State by the Lagos State Magistrate Court, Bolade-Oshodi, via a letter dated 7th of June, 2022, addressed to the Corps Marshal.”
“The warrants were issued by the Court after the respondents failed to appear before it in respect of the allegations of non-payment of the Lagos Waste Management Authority/Private Sector Participation (PSP) bills contained in the criminal summons Forms A of the Court”.
CP Akinpelu (Rtd) pointed out that LAGESC/KAI, an environmental enforcement agency established by the Lagos Environmental Management and Protection Law 2017, complied with the Court directive and, subsequently, arrested the respondents in an enforcement operation carried out on the 9th of August, 2022 in line with best practises of enforcement techniques.
While maintaining that no apartment was broken into during the arrest, the Corps Marshal directed that any petition pertaining to the harassment or human rights violation by any of its officers during the exercise should be directed to the Agency with the appropriate evidence.
Akinpelu emphasised the need for all buildings in the State to have a valid waste contract as LAGESC is empowered by law to enforce the use of PSP operators, discourage Lagosians from patronising cart pushers and prosecute waste bill defaulters in conjunction with the Courts.