109 Arrested Over Sanitation Violations in Umuahia

No fewer than 109 persons were on Saturday arrested in Umuahia, Abia State, for allegedly violating the state’s environmental sanitation regulations.

The offenders were apprehended for loitering, playing football on the streets, and engaging in trading activities between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., the period designated for the monthly environmental sanitation exercise.

Records from the Abia State Ministry of Environment indicate that the defaulters were picked up by government task force teams and arraigned before the Environmental Mobile Court sitting at the High Court, Umuahia, presided over by Magistrate Onyinyechi Ibekwe.

Three medical students among those arrested were discharged after identifying themselves, while 12 other suspects were released on health grounds. However, 94 persons prosecuted by the Mobile Court were ordered to pay fines and undertake community service for contravening the Abia State Basic Environmental Laws.

Speaking to journalists after the exercise, the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Philemon Ogbonna, commended residents who complied with the sanitation directive. Ogbonna, who was represented by the Head of Department, Pollution Control and Environmental Health, Mrs. Happiness Agbulonu, expressed concern over the refusal of some traders at Orie Ugba Market to obey government directives.

She also noted that some motor parks, including Okigwe Park and Owerri Park, were observed loading passengers during the sanitation hours, contrary to regulations.

In a related development, the Chairman of the Abia State House of Assembly Committee on Environment, Mr. Kalu Mba Nwoke, warned that stiffer sanctions would be imposed on defaulters beginning from March 2026.