Kwara govt seals residential building over defective soakaway

The Kwara State government, through the state’s Environmental Protection Agency, has sealed off a residential building in the Adabata area in the Ilorin metropolis in the Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state over an alleged violation of environmental laws.

In a statement by Jamiu Amode, the press secretary of KWEPA, made available to the media on Sunday, the building, which is located at Alagbede Compound, Ita-Elefun, Adabata Area in Ilorin, was sealed off at about 2:00 pm on Friday for environmental infractions.

Idayat Adeola, acting general manager of the Agency, who was represented during the enforcement exercise by Sanitarian Abigail Are, explained that “the Agency received a complaint from an insider in the community that occupants of the building expose human excreta to the atmosphere through their defective soakaway.

According to the agency, the leakage of the soakaway, if not properly checked, may cause the outbreak of diseases, which may affect the health of the people in the community, which is very dangerous to the people in the state.

“The act of the occupants of the house is very dangerous to the health of inhabitants of the area, adding that the decision to seal off the house was to enforce compliance with the environmental laws and prevent the community from the epidemic due to the carelessness of the occupants of the building.”

She said the act of the occupants is liable to cause infectious diseases such as cholera, contrary to the provision of health and environmental law and urged the general public to complement government efforts in the fight against open defecation in order to prevent outbreak of diseases, the statement said.

Recall that the state government had advised landlords in the state to provide toilet facilities in their houses in an effort to stop open defecation in the state.