Lagos State Government Launches War on Residential Houses With No Toilet Facilities.

The Lagos State Government says it has embarked on a tough war against buildings without or with defective toilets facilities across the state towards checking what it described as “unwholesome practices” of indiscriminate defecation even in the public places. It stated that it has already embarked on public enlightenment to educate the residents on the dangers of resorting to such inimical lifestyles which is dangerous to the general public.
In a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the Director of Public Enlightenment in the State’s Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr. Oluwatoyin Awosika threatened that the state government has concluded arrangement to commence sealing-off houses that fall within the category adding that it would be a zero-tolerance affair in order to put the barbaric attitudes to abrupt end.

 “We would continue to educate people on the need to stop open defecation. Again, you don’t blame some of these people for doing these things, so many houses don’t have toilets. So many houses don’t have bathrooms, so naturally, you find these people doing it outside. Government cannot take all landlords and start inspecting all the houses, but the Ministry of Health, ‘Wole, Wole’ Inspection Officers, the houses they go and they find that there are no toilets, they seal them up.”

“That is an ongoing thing; their own is just to go round the environment, enter any residential or official premises, inspect; once they see any defect, they give them an ultimatum to put such things into practice.

“And once they are not done, they are sanctioned according to the law.

“The environmental law is clear, every house must have a standard kitchen, standard toilet, standard bathroom, they must have proper drainages around the house and water system.

“The education is endless, we do our own, the health officers do theirs; the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Office do education.

“And then when they have done enough education in certain areas, they do the enforcement and the enforcement is, those who run foul are brought before its tribunal.’’

He added that the state government is also collaborating with all stakeholders in the state including non-government organizations towards eradicating the menace through public enlightenment programmes.