LAWMA arrests three for illegal waste dumping in Lagos

The Lagos State Government has arrested three residents for allegedly dumping waste illegally in the Ketu-Alapere area.

The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this in a statement shared on his X account on Sunday.

According to the statement, officials of the Lagos Waste Management Authority’s (LAWMA) Waste Infractions Surveillance and Investigation Team carried out an overnight operation in the Ketu-Alapere axis between 8 and 9 May.

During the operation, the officials caught three individuals allegedly disposing waste at unauthorised locations.

“During this operation, three individuals were apprehended for unlawfully disposing of waste in unauthorised locations. To deter further misconduct, they were all traced to their residences to investigate the motives behind their actions,” the statement read.

Mr Wahab said that preliminary investigations showed the affected properties neither had proper waste storage facilities nor were registered with the designated Private Sector Participant operators responsible for waste collection in the area.

He added that the affected properties had been documented and forwarded to LAWMA’s legal department for further action.

“All documented properties have been forwarded to the LAWMA legal department for further legal action,” the commissioner stated.

The commissioner also said sanitation officials cleared several waste blackspots identified during the operation to prevent further indiscriminate dumping.

The latest arrests come amid renewed efforts by the Lagos State Government to curb environmental violations and improve waste management across the state.

In recent months, LAWMA has intensified enforcement against illegal waste disposal, open defecation, and other sanitation-related offences as concerns grow over worsening refuse accumulation in parts of Lagos.

Earlier this year, the LAWMA said the state generates between 13,000 and 15,000 tonnes of waste daily, blaming persistent waste challenges on rapid population growth, weak compliance by residents, and indiscriminate dumping.

The state government has also reintroduced the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, arguing that stricter enforcement is necessary to improve public hygiene and reduce flooding caused by blocked drainage channels.

In February, a Lagos magistrate’s court convicted and fined 17 residents for open defecation and urination as part of the state’s wider environmental enforcement campaign.

Mr Wahab reiterated the government’s commitment to enforcing environmental laws and warned residents against illegal waste disposal, which he said contributes to environmental degradation and public health risks.

The latest arrests underscore the Lagos government’s increasing reliance on enforcement and prosecution as it seeks to tackle indiscriminate waste disposal in Africa’s most populous city.