LOKOJA – Twenty-six people were on Saturday convicted by a mobile court sitting in Lokoja for contravening the Kogi State Sanitation Law.
The convicts, 15 women and 11 men, were arrested for trading and moving about between 7.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. in contravention of the sanitation law.
Senior Magistrate Abdullahi Sulyman who presided over the court, sentenced each of the convicts to three months imprisonment or to pay a fine of N500.
Sulyman ordered those who could not pay the fine to be taken to Koton Karfe Prison.
He said that the sentences would serve as deterrent to others.
The state’s Deputy Governor, Mr Yomi Awoniyi, while monitoring the sanitation, said that the State Government would henceforth, be more severe in dealing with sanitation offenders.
He described the exercise as very important and wondered why some people still found it difficult to comply with the sanitation law.
Awoniyi advised people to imbibe the culture of cleanliness or be ready to face the law, saying that government would not condone dirty habits under any disguise.
Also speaking with reporters, Mrs Florence Joseph, the General Manager of the Kogi State Waste Management Board, expressed concern over residents’ negative attitude to the monthly sanitation.
She said that the board had done a lot to sensitise the people. (NAN)
