By Matthew Denis
Residents of Tanke Community in the Ilorin, Kwara State on Monday evening staged a protest over failure of relevant authorities to evacuate refuse deposited along the University of Ilorin road.
The residents, who expressed worries for fear of endemics, asserted that the refuse was constituting a nuisance to the environment.
Mallam Aliyu Ahmed said the government should help to provide a lasting solution to it as it has become an eyesore.
“It is quite an eyesore and it has caused a lot of problems in this area. “Majority of people that dump refuse here are elites, most especially people living around this place, they are not supportive at all.
“The only thing is for government to provide a lasting solution to the problem. They are the only ones that can find a solution to it, because individuals cannot do it; the only solution can only come from government,” Aliyu said.
Another resident, Demola Olarewaju said the indiscriminate dumping of refuse has affected his health and business.
“It has really affected my health and that of other people here.
“For quite some time now, I have not been able to go to the office, because I was seriously sick for more than a month.
“Whenever they were about to pack the refuse, I have to close my office and leave the place, and I have a family of four, I could not feed them because of the refuse they dump here.
“This is because when refuse are dump for days, it will start smelling.
“One of the terrible things is that you see learned people coming with big cars to dump refuse here.
“It is very alarming and it is not reasonable at all, the culprits should be dealt with according to the law of the state,” Olanrewaju said.
Responding to the protesters, the Permanent Secretary of Kwara state Ministry of Environment, Isiaka Al-Amin said there are contractors meant to evacuate the refuse to a dump site.
“Kwara state has different platforms of ensuring cleanliness in the state and we have those people whose responsibility are to evacuate this refuse and the government pay them.
“We have those that go from one place to another and evacuate to dumpsite because it is the responsibility of the government to pick and we have four contractors who are doing that.
“The contractor handling the University of Ilorin road is Saad Sule and I have called him this morning.
“The contractors are not being owed any money and he promised that a vehicle has been ordered to evacuate it,” Al-Amin assured.
