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The Special Committee on the Clean-Up of Ikoyi and VIctoria Island said that it had impounded 215 vehicles, arrested and prosecuted 98 persons for various sundry environmental offences commencement of the exercise.
Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, said this in a statement by the Director, Public Affairs of the ministry, Mr Kunle Adeshina, in Lagos, yesterday.
Bello said that theehicles were impounded from various areas in Ikoyi and on Vctoria Island for parking in prohibited zones and mechanic workshops located in unauthorised places.
He said that those arrested include: street traders who displayed their wares on walkways, road set backs, those operating illegal car wash centres and auto mobile mechanics who had converted public spaces to mechanic workshops.
Bello said that others arrested were drivers of contravened vehicles who resisted the impoundment of their vehicles.
He said that the offenders were arraigned before mobile courts which sat at the Safety Arena Mobile Court in Oshodi and another mobile court which sat on Victoria Island.
He said that during one of the several raids, the courts handed out sentences which included fines to the offenders.
The commissioner also said that various goods were seized during the clean-up.
He said that those that were perishable were immediately sent to the various orphanages and motherless babies homes spread across the state by the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC).
He said that non- perishable items were being kept at the agency’s store at Oshodi pending when a decision would be taken on them.
The commissioner who is also the Chairman, Special Committee on the Clean Up of Ikoyi and Victoria Island, said that committee commenced its exercise on Jan. 10.
He said that it comprised the operatives of the State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences.
“The Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps, and the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) have also been conducting daily raids across several streets to clear all shanties and structures on Drainage channels.
“They have also been ejecting occupants of abandoned buildings, and other types of buildings serving as hiding places for okada riders and street traders, many of whom usually seek refuge in them when raids are carried out,” he said.
Bello said that the committee would intensify the clean-up campaign until complete sanity had been restored to all the areas of Ikoyi and on Victoria Island.
