Oyo govt demolishes shops, seals filling station

No fewer than five shops were demolished on Thursday in Ibadan with a filling station sealed for violating the environmental law on building regulations and failure to carry out the weekly sanitation exercise.

The exercise was carried out by the officials of the state government.

The petroleum station at Orita Challenge in Ibadan was sealed for accommodating a filthy drainage lane, which environmental officers alleged exposed residents to varying degrees of environmental hazards.

The Director of Engineering and Beautification, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, Engineer Moshood Adeola, who led the operatives said the state government will not be merciful to anyone who negates the environmental policy of the state to subject the citizens to poor health.

Abiola said, “The disobedience of the shop owners to vacate the premises, being a setback for the road led to this demolition. Despite the abatement notices served on them for more than six months to vacate the premises as the continued existence of the illegal structures constituted an environmental nuisance, they did not yield and we have to come and pull the structures down.

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“Their offences range from noise and air pollution, evidence of open defecation accommodating illicit drug users within the environment and that is why those shops were pulled down.

“Despite the effort of Oyo State Government in maintaining a suitable and sustainable environment for all and sundry some people still go ahead engaging in street trading and non-adherence to environmental laws.

“It is on a record that this administration will not renounce its stance of zero tolerance on environmental disorderliness” he added

Adeola added that the government was compelled to partially demolish the structures as a warning, having served the owners series of notices which they failed to comply with within the statutory notice period

He reiterated that as soon as the State mobile court is established, anyone caught violating the environmental laws or causing environmental nuisance would be punished accordingly and immediately on being arrested.

“We call on those violating environmental laws or constituting nuisance to the environment to desist from the act else they would face the wrath of the government. The moment State mobile courts go into operation, it will be instant judgement for violators.”

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