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Tag: Cleaner Lagos

  • Taskforce boss marks first year with over 18,000 arrests, cleaner Lagos

    Taskforce boss marks first year with over 18,000 arrests, cleaner Lagos

    Over 18,000 suspects have been arrested, 1,019 vehicles and 16,600 commercial motorcycles seized, and several criminal hideouts cleared by the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit (Taskforce) in the last one year.

    Taskforce Chairman CSP Adetayo Akerele revealed this at a media parley on Tuesday afternoon while reeling out the agency’s scorecard under his watch.

    According to Akerele, the agency has been able to enforce the government’s drive for a cleaner Lagos by dismantling illegal shanties and other structures that constituted environmental nuisances.

    He said the achievements were the result of renewed collaboration, proactive strategies, and intelligence-led enforcement, all executed with a strong sense of professionalism and public engagement.

    “Between June 2024 and June 2025, we arrested 14,087 suspects across notorious black spots such as Oshodi, Mushin, Iju-Ishaga Railway, Lagos Island, Obalende, and Marina.

    “Out of these, 1,287 were released after proper screening, while 12,999 were arraigned. This has led to a significant reduction in criminal activities in these locations,” he said.

    The chairman said the agency introduced its bi-weekly CLEAN UP Enforcement Operation in April, which led to the arrest of 2,276 miscreants, drug addicts, street traders, hooligans, and other suspected criminals, adding that 222 of the suspects were released after screening, while 2,154 were charged in court.

    He said the seized vehicles were impounded from major commercial and residential hubs, including Victoria Island, Apapa, and Ikeja, adding that two of the vehicles were forfeited to the state government following court orders.

    On the seized motorcycles, Akerele noted that the 16,625 recorded within the period under review was record breaking compared to the 6,915 motorcycle impoundments recorded in 2023 and early 2024.

    “The seizures occurred in enforcement zones such as Festac, Second Rainbow, Lagos Island, Agege, Ikeja, and Badagry Expressway, aligning with the state’s sustained ban on commercial motorcycles.

    “The sheer volume of motorcycles impounded shows our resolve in restoring order on Lagos roads and preventing road traffic injuries,” he said.

    In addition to crime and traffic control, the agency tackled environmental degradation by demolishing 1,786 illegal shanties across locations such as Ogombo, Mile 2, Fagba, Epe, and Oworonshoki. These actions, Akerele said, helped restore urban order and reduced health risks in the affected areas.

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    The campaign against street trading also yielded results, with 418 hawkers and traders arrested and goods seized across Ikeja, Ikoyi, Obalende, and Eko Hotel Axis. The operation, he said, was not just about arrests but about protecting lives and ensuring pedestrian safety on Lagos streets.

    Aside from enforcement, the agency introduced several welfare initiatives for its personnel. One such project, he said, was the Safety Arena Relaxation Spot, described as the first of its kind in any enforcement base in Nigeria. Akerele said the initiative was designed to boost the mental and physical well-being of officers engaged in high-stress assignments.

    Health and service delivery were also improved with an upgraded Health Centre and a newly renovated reception area, both aimed at offering better support to officers and creating a more welcoming environment for members of the public.

    He solicited public cooperation and understanding to decimate crime, assuring that the Taskforce under his watch would continue to improve, and introduce better ways of enforcing the law.

  • Our staff not involved in Ikeja’s protest- Visionscape

    A waste management company, Visionscape Sanitation Solutions (VSS), says it workers were not involved in the Monday protest at the Lagos State Government (LASG) Secretariat, Ikeja.

    Mr John Irvine, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, said on Tuesday in Lagos that the company had always met its obligation to the workers.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that hundreds of workers under the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) had on Monday protested over alleged discrepancies in their salaries.

    The workers also said that since they started work some months ago they had not been given identity cards and employment letters.

    Majority of the protesters were those in the Community Sanitation Workers (CSW) scheme under VSS.

    Read Also:‘Cleaner Lagos’ workers protest unpaid salaries

    Irvine said: “While we cannot ascertain the information that has been published, we can confirm that no Visionscape staff salaries had been compromised in any way.

    ”Enquiries regarding CSW must be directed to the state Ministry of Environment/Public Utility Monitoring Assurance Unit (PUMAU).”

    The company CEO said that Visionscape would continue to guarantee the complete safety and security of its employees with the highest levels of protection and equipment.

    Irvine said that the company remained committed to working with all stakeholders.

    According to him, Visionscape will carry out its respective roles and responsibilities and it will continue to support the Cleaner Lagos Initiative.

  • ‘Cleaner Lagos’ workers protest unpaid salaries

    Hundreds of workers under of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) of the Lagos State Government on Monday, staged a protest at the office of Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode.

    The workers, who chanted solidarity songs and displayed banners with different inscriptions said that they are being owed salaries for July and Aug. 2018.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that inscribed on some of the placards carried by the protesting workers were: “Visionscape and Environment and others, “Don’t make life difficult for us’’, “Accumulation of salary.“

    “We don’t want deduction of salary’’,“Don’t politicise our lives’’, “Governor should know sweepers are also voters,’’ among others.

    The workers complained that there were discrepancies in their salaries, adding that they had not been given identity cards and employment letters.

    One of the protesters, Mrs Salau Ologun, said that their employer was making life difficult for them.

    She accused the government of being insensitive to their plight, adding that they could not continue to suffer in silence.

    Addressing the protesters, the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Environment, Mr Abiodun Bamgboye, told the protesters that their July and August salaries were ready.

    Bamgboye said that government took the project from the company that was handling it and had been trying to put things in order, adding that, that was why things had not taken proper shape.

    “We were able to clear the salaries from January to June. It is true we owe July and August but we have got approval for the payment.

    “We are trying to audit the staff and the accounts and ensure that we are not paying ghost workers.

    “There are some anomalies in the system.

    “Your normal salary is N18, 500 per month. Whoever collects less than that should lodge a complaint and attach his or her payment slip, if the person has been reporting for work regularly.

    “We don’t want to send your money through intermediaries, which is why we pay you through banks,’’ he said.

    The permanent secretary assured the workers that their identity cards, letters of employment, and other conditions of engagement would soon be ready.

    On the staff that lost her life, Bamgboye said that the ministry rose to the occasion as soon as the person was hit by a vehicle, adding that she was taken to the Lagos General Hospital, where she was rejected.

    He also said that the victim was later taken to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), but was told that there was no space.

    The permanent secretary said that the victim died before they got to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

    “We will visit the family of the deceased and do the necessary things. We have provided safety devices for you, but some drivers are drunk while some are careless.

    “We have insured your lives and our government is ready to compensate the family of whoever loses his or her life on the job.’’

  • Ambode and vision of a cleaner Lagos

    SIR: For a city that plays host to over 23 million inhabitants, admits another 6, 000 on a daily basis and is growing so rapidly that it is going to be twice its population size in 15 years, it is no surprise how much waste Lagos generates. One research has estimated that the State generates at least 13, 000 tonnes of waste daily, almost three times higher than what Ghana generates. In spite of this, there is a race to become a proper megacity, like other cities of the world with which it has similar population, but less infrastructure.

    Proper waste disposal continues to be a challenge, because not only does it affect the allure and aesthetics of any place, but it also directly impacts on health, industry, social living standards and economic prosperity. Realising this, the Lagos State government of Lagos, under Governor Akinwunmi Ambode embarked on a Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), beginning in 2016, with an aim to address waste management and protect the environment. This initiative also engendered a transition from the local PSP operators in the state to Visionscape Group, whose subsidiary, Visionscape Sanitation Solutions, was brought in to save the day. The question now on the lips of Lagosians is whether the saviour does not itself need saving at this point.

    While, the imprint of two green leaves, one light coloured and the other much darker, can be seen in most places across Lagos, on collection trucks, outfits and disposal bins heralding Visionscape,  the rate of return in terms of value provided to the state is not at par. Understandably, the previously existing waste management scheme in Lagos needed a face lift; there was a need to deploy new technology, have proper and efficient collection, transportation, disposal, treatment and resource recovery mechanisms, and the idea of a new entity to enable this was surely not a bad idea. To my mind though, the company came on board without fully realising, understanding and preparing for the weight of duty it would be fraught with. Perhaps, it had not imagined that the waste capacity of Lagos was way over what it had seen or heard, or even been told by perhaps, obsolete data. Thus, in the early days of Visionscape in Lagos, and till now in certain areas, heaps of waste can be seen piling up for days and weeks, a testimony to the fact that anything less than daily collection of waste in Lagos would not work.

    I would also fault the transition from the local PSP operators to this company, the downside of which was borne by Lagosians as local PSP operators refused to collect in the interim and Visionscape had not been mobilized to kick off. The long-drawn court battle and the government’s rush to move on with the new company could have been better handled. Admittedly, no transition of such magnitude, especially when making a direct replacement, can be free of the entire drama, yet it could have been better managed with a collaborative structure, which would eventually have phased out the local operators slowly, letting the foreign company handle operations alone. It is a smart step too, as the foreign company will not have to deal with so many teething challenges of understanding the new landscape. In this regard however, I am glad the Visionscape has taken on partnership with the local PSP operators. They should also work quickly to infuse scavengers into their chain of operations.

    The cries of the people of Lagos regarding efficiency and effectiveness are valid. The turnkey solutions and efficient waste management promised are yet to be deployed. Flowery news of the Medium Term Note, RFID indent systems, UHF transponders and GPRS sensors and all technology being deployed makes no meaning to the average Lagosian until the dirt pile in front of his house is not there the next morning, and the next, and the next. Till then, mere promises of better delivery cannot suffice.

    So, while, I must urge Lagosians to be patient with this new player trying to understand our field and mode of play, Visionscape has to also step up its game. A lot of advocacy work and awareness should be embarked on for Lagosians for re-orientation on waste disposal and environmental culture. This can be achieved by partnering with various environmental non-profit organisations already operating in the state.

    To the Lagosian, I must chide you too, because, while Visionscape has its own responsibilities and shortcomings, the Nigerian culture of disposing waste at any point where it seems convenient, regardless of how it harms the environment, is a problem. We also have our role to play in keeping our environment clean, refraining from emptying waste in the gutters, paying up sanitation charges where necessary, and reaching out to the waste company where there is an urgent need to have them collect, and they have failed to. The challenge of waste management is one involving various players along its value chain, and neither the government nor the waste company can play our individual roles for us.

     

    • Caleb Adebayo,

    Lagos.

  • Visionscape promises cleaner Lagos

    The Visionscape Sanitation Solutions (VSS) has restated its commitment to the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) policy.

    The firm expressed its willingness to work with PSP operators.

    Visionscape’s Head of Corporate Communication Motunrayo Elias  said this during a chat with The Nation in Lagos.

    She said over 100 PSP operators had joined Visionscape to assist in waste collection.

    “Our plan is to serve the residential areas of Lagos. We have a lot of black spots or illegal dump sites in the state. We want to clear  the black spots before moving into the residential areas,” she said.

    Elias praised the PSPs for the work they did before Visionscape came. She said the company was willing to work with PSP operators. She explained that tremedous progress had been made. “We are willing and we have made progress and we will work together,” Elias said, adding that though the firm started operations last January,  progress had been made in delivering a cleaner Lagos.

    She said Visionscape was embarking on advocacy programmes at the grassroots.

    VSS Head of Planning, Kiran Reddy noted that the waste management company had cleared 2000 of the 5000 illegal dumpsites or black spots in the state.

    He said illegal 5000 dumpsites were identified during a study of the state.

    “We found approximately 5000 black spots with waste from five tonnes to 150 tonnes and we have cleaned up approximately 2000 black spots. We rented trucks, used pay loaders to clean these dumpsites,” he explained.

    Highlighting efforts by the firm to rid Lagos of refuse, Kiran said over 15, 000 bins had been distributed across the state and that by the end August, over 20,000 galvanised bins would have been distributed.

    He noted that four million plastic bags had been distributed to residents of Lagos, adding that 10 million plastic bags would be distributed before the end of the year.

  • Our plan for cleaner Lagos, by Visionscape

    WASTE managers Visionscape Sanitations Solution (VSS) has promised to employ the adults among the 200 scavengers at the Epe landfill to boost the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI).

    The environment utility company said it would also train the under-age among them so that  they could be reintegrated in the future.

    Its Chief Operations Officer, Thomas Forgacs, made these known at lunch for journalists, PSP operators and other stakeholders in the waste management value chain.

    He said  500 scavengers used to be on the site, adding that the number has dropped to 200. He said they had been categorised into two, those who fell within 18 to 50  and those less than 18.

    Forgacs said the landfill would be completed between 12 and 18 months.

    Commissioner for the Environment Mr. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti said the landfill being built in Epe was in steady progress.

    He said the landfill, being a critical aspect of the waste management value chain, was accorded priority by the  government, which  has concessioned the 880,000-square metre landfill to deliver the construction of weighing areas and road ways, leachate collection and sediment ponds and material recovery facilities, among others.

    According to him, the facility would ensure the protection of public health,  while providing an efficient and effective final disposal option for generated waste.

    Durosinmi-Etti said the landfill was part of the CLI aimed at revitalising the  solid waste management sector to have far-reaching benefits and multiplier effects on the state.

    The government, he said,  was committed to providing a sustainable and functional environment that would ensure development and prosperity.

  • Visionscape, PSP operators to work for cleaner Lagos

    Visionscape, PSP operators to work for cleaner Lagos

    Visionscape Sanitation Solution and Waste Collection Operators (WCOs), also called private sector participant (PSP) operators, have agreed to a partnership for cleaner, healthier and safer Lagos.

    The partnership was finalised at a meeting convened yesterday by the Commissioner for the Environment, Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, in his office at Alausa, Ikeja, the state capital.

    Durosinmi-Etti said the government was interested in easing the challenges in waste management by creating synergy between Visionscape Sanitation Solution and the WCOs in their spheres of operation.

    The commissioner noted that resolving the challenge in a mutually beneficial manner was the best approach.

    He said: “Government, more than ever, believes in this partnership. That is why it has not only provided a facility of up to N2.5 billion with state government guarantee, which PSP operators could access to upscale their operations, but has also opened another channel through the Employment Trust Fund for loan facilities at reasonable interest of not more than 12 per cent per annum.”

    Durosinmi-Etti said the state government was determined to remove all bottlenecks hindering seamless waste disposal operations.

    According to him, the state government is targeting a turn-around time of 30 minutes at the dumpsites by encouraging stakeholders to create additional platform at the sites.

    The commissioner said no efforts would be spared to return the dump sites to sanity by reducing indiscriminate parking of trucks and allowing scavengers, which he said add to the loss of time at dump sites.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Visionscape Sanitation Solution, John Irvine, lauded the initiative between his company and the WCOs.

    He said: “It is not unusual to face this kind of problems, especially in the first cycle of operations. It takes some time to build the superstructures and ameliorate the present hiccups. We are buying locally and taking steps to have waste container bins manufactured locally.”

    On behalf of the WCOs, Kasumu Afis Olasehinde reiterated the commitment of the waste collectors to the success of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative.

    Olasehinde said: “To show our total commitment to a cleaner, healthier and safer Lagos, we have not only resolved to work with the Government of Lagos State and the domestic waste operators as partners, we have also resolved to begin free operations, every Thursday, to mop up black spots in our areas.”

  • Saboteurs behind Lagos refuse, says Cleaner Lagos

    Saboteurs behind Lagos refuse, says Cleaner Lagos

    Officials of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI)  have raised the alarm over  attempts by those they referred to as saboteurs to frustrate  the state’s  new waste management policy.

    They  said the saboteurs were determined to kill all efforts to make Lagos  cleaner and healthier.

    A senior CLI, who preferred anonymity said it was unfortunate that those who felt the new arrangement would affect them adversely were working hard to sabotage it by all means, including deliberate dumping of large volume of waste in public places.

    The official said: “Take for instance, the picture of heaps of refuse under the Idumagbo Pedestrian Bridge that was published today (yesterday) in a national daily. The refuse at that spot was evacuated just overnight and the team finished by 3am today (Sunday) and by 3am, the heap of refuse was back there, including a fully loaded LAWMA big refuse container that was not there previously.

    “As I am talking to you, our officials have returned to the same spot to clear everything. The Commissioner for the Environment was also there to see things for himself and he has asked the Private Sector Participant (PSP) operator that dropped the container belonging to the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) on the spot to remove it immediately.

    “That has been the challenge. When our officials clear the heaps of refuse from a spot, before one could say Jack Robinson, the heaps were back on the same spot cleared by our officials and this really has to stop because a cleaner Lagos is in our collective interest,” he said.

    The new policy encapsulated in the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) was introduced to address the challenges in the sector, and as well revolutionise waste management in the state in line with international best practices.

    A source said the permutation of those behind the sabotage was that if they kept dumping tonnes of refuse in public places, they would achieve the twin objective of distracting CLI officials from paying adequate attention to other places while projecting the initiative, which is targeted at a comprehensive turnaround of Lagos to become one of the cleanest cities in the world, as a failure.

    Another reliable source said the situation had also been compounded by members of the public who indiscriminately dump their waste in public places and not the designated spots, saying that such was also a challenge.

    Also, in a recent video that went viral on social media, an official of Visionscape Sanitation Solutions, Mr John Olawale Joseph, had lamented how people were dumping refuse on the same spots in public places, thus frustrating the efforts to rid the state of filth.

    Joseph, who is Visionscape’s Area Manager for Lagos Island West, alleged that heaps of refuse sometimes appear overnight in places already cleared by environmental officials, saying that the deliberate sabotage of the project called for concern.

  • Support Cleaner Lagos Initiative —LG boss

    The Lagos Island Local Government and Visionscape has urged the people of the local government area to support the state government’s Cleaner Lagos Initiative.

    At a sensitisation programme held at the local government secretariat, the Chairman of the local government, Tijani Adetoyese Olusi, said the Cleaner Lagos Initiative of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is to make the state look like other developed countries in terms of neatness.

    “I appreciate Governor Ambode for the Cleaner Lagos Initiative. The governor is looking at cleaner Lagos. We need to put all our hands on deck to achieve our goal,” he said.

    He added: “We, as government, are not happy with what is happening. We have seriously been cleaning refuse in the Lagos Island Local Government Area. As the premier local government and the hub of business in Nigeria, it means Lagos Island generates a lot of wastes. It is an enormous task.

    “The community development associations and market leaders have a role to play because they are the major generators of these wastes. Most of the wastes generated are daylight wastes between 6am and 10pm. The residents should work hand in hand with Visionscape. We want you to pack your wastes where Visionscape operators will be able to pack them. We need to be proactive in packaging our wastes,” he said.

    The Operation Director, Visionscape, Mr Barrack, said “the company is ready to work together to make Lagos Island cleaner.

    “We are here to work with all of you. You should not throw your wastes anyhow with the impression that somebody will pick them up. We are going to work together,” he urged the residents.

  • Support Cleaner Lagos Initiative, LG boss pleads

    The Lagos Island Local Government and Visionscape have urged the people of the local government area to support the state government’s Cleaner Lagos Initiative.

    At a sensitisation programme held at the local government secretariat, the Chairman of the local government, Tijani Adetoyese Olusi, said the Cleaner Lagos Initiative of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is to make the state look like other developed countries in terms of neatness.

    “I appreciate Governor Ambode for the Cleaner Lagos Initiative. The governor is looking at cleaner Lagos. We need to put all our hands on deck to achieve our goal,” he said.

    He added: “We, as government, are not happy with what is happening. We have seriously been cleaning refuse in the Lagos Island Local Government Area. As the premier local government and the hub of business in Nigeria, it means Lagos Island generates a lot of wastes. It is an enormous task.

    “The Community Development Associations and market leaders have a role to play because they are the major generators of these wastes. Most of the wastes generated are daylight wastes between 6 and 10pm. The residents should work hand in hand with Visionscape. We want you to pack your wastes where Visionscape operators will be able to pack them,” he said.