The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Illegal

  • Illegal fishing: West Africa loses $10billion, $23.5billion yearly – Expert

    • As navy seeks new ways to tackle maritime crimes

    Between $10billion and $23.5 billion are lost globally as a result of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing every year.

    This figure, according to the Federal Department of Fisheries (FDF), represents 37 percent of the West African region’s catch.

    A Deputy Director of FDF, Babatunde Popoola quoted these figures at a seminar organised by the Naval Training Command  (NAVTRAC) on the arrest and prosecution of maritime crimes held on Wednesday in Lagos.

    Lamenting that the issue of IUU was a global challenge, Popoola stated that regional and international cooperation was needed to enhance information sharing.

    He also called for the review of extant provisions oj fishing in the country to provide sanctions that are commensurate to the crime.

    Popoola said there was need curb illegal exploitation of marine fisheries resource especially by foreign vessels, adding that the lack of fisheries protection patrol vessel was a hindrance.

    Listing the various fisheries provisions that warrant arrest, Popoola urged the Nigerian Navy and the Marine Police to apprehend any fishing boat not duly licenced, or whose licence has expired.

    He said that the use of wrong category of fishing licence was also an offence, adding that boats fishing with poisonous substances dynamite or gamalin 20 should be arrested.

    According to him, no vessel should fish in restricted areas, which are five nautical miles non-trawling zone and breeding ground for juvenile fish.

    The seminar, which was organised to chart a new course in the arrest and prosecution of maritime criminals wad attended by the Commissioner of Police (CP) in charge of Ports, Besan Gwana; the Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship  (NNS) QUORRA, Commodore Francis Isaac and Commodore Omatseye Nasiama, who represented the Flag Officer Commanding  (FOC) NAVTRAC, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie, among others.

    Earlier, Gwana who represented the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Maritime said that there was decrease in maritime crimes in the last three years.

    Giving a four-year breakdown, Gwana noted that 389 cases were reported in 2011; 420 in 2012, 315 in 2013, 308 in 2014 and 171 last year.

    While noting that most of the cases were still under investigation, he said the command recorded convictions on a handful, some were acquitted and others awaiting trial.

    According to him, the police have put mechanisms such as surveillance, robust information gathering and awareness creation, as well as constant patrols in place as a preventive mechanism against maritime crimes.

    In her presentation, the legal officer, NAVTRAC, Lieutenant Commander P.U. Anyanwu canvassed the need for the creation of special courts to strictly handle maritime cases, adding that synergy there should be synergy between maritime stakeholders.

    “The Federal High Court is vested with the powers to try all maritime crimes in Nigeria. There has been a recent appeal by stakeholders in the maritime industry for the creation of the Maritime Court of Nigerian with sole jurisdiction to try maritime crimes.

    “This is the practice in China where the maritime court Judges normally undertake one year duty tour of the maritime environment to enable them appreciate the terrain when handling such cases. Unlike the practice in Nigeria where most of the Judges do not really appreciate the happenings in the marine environment to warrant them adjudicate properly on maritime cases,” she said.

  • Lagos shut illegal slaughter slabs

    Lagos State Government has shut two illegal slaughter slabs in Oke-Afa and Ejigbo in Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area.

    Commissioner for Agriculture Toyin Suarau said they were shut to curb unwholesome meat and meat products from unlicensed and illegal abattoirs and slaughter slabs.

    Suarau warned operators of illegal and unlicensed abattoirs and slaughter slabs to desist.

    He said the government has ordered an immediate stop to all slaughtering activities in Idi-Araba and Odo Ashimowu (both in Mushin Local Government)  and Ilupeju-Oshodi illegal sheep/goats slaughter slabs.

    “Any butcher or group of butchers caught at any of these illegal and unlicensed abattoirs and slaughter slabs or who violates this order will be prosecuted and, henceforth, have their meat confiscated”, he warned

    The commissioner said only Matori Modern Abattoir was approved slab for the areas where these illegal outfits were operating.

    “Government will continue to close down illegal abattoirs and slaughter slabs which are not hygienic and not in compliance with the relevant laws governing meat slaughtering in the state”, Suarau said.

    He said the issue of animal slaughtering was still a big problem because animals must be inspected before and after slaughtering according to the meat inspection law, adding: “The danger with unrecognised abattoirs is that the animals slaughtered there are not inspected by veterinary professionals to detect the one that has disease or pregnant ones because it is illegal to slaughter pregnant animals”.

  • Ongoing Africa Basketball League is illegal, says NBBF

    Ongoing Africa Basketball League is illegal, says NBBF

    The Nigeria Basketball  Federation (NBBF) on Monday said that it’s attention had been drawn to the unauthorised take-off of an unapproved basketball league.

    The NBBF said that the ongoing Lagos-based league named the “African Basketball League” (ABL), organised by Africa Sports and Entertainment Management Company Limited (ASEMC), was an illegal competition.

    This is contained in a statement signed by Patrick Omorodion, the Media Coordinator, NBBF released to the media in Abuja.

    “For the benefit of the general public, especially sponsors, partners, players, technical officials, media and other basketball stakeholders, only the NBBF has the authority to approve such a league in Nigeria.

    “FIBA-Africa, the governing body of the game in Africa is competent to approve any type of African league and no such approval has been granted by either of the two bodies.

    “The exploratory meetings held by NBBF on the one hand and FIBA-Africa on the other, with the organisers of the ABL has clearly spelt out the conditions to be met.

    “However, none of these conditions have been met to date. The NBBF therefore invites the ASEMC to follow the path of honour by observing due process and obtaining approval from the competent bodies before floating the league.

    “All concerned are advised that the league as it is presently constituted and presented to the unsuspecting and uninformed public is unauthorised, illegal, without a guaranteed basis and fraught with problems.

    “For the proper guidance of the general public, the basketball federations of Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Senegal, and other countries purportedly having teams in the league, have not granted any approval.

    “As a result of these, none of the three teams supposedly from these countries can presently play a home game in Abidjan, Libreville or Dakar respectively.

    “It is our hope that the organisers of this league will strive to meet the conditions set by FIBA-Africa.’’

    The NBBF advised Nigerian teams playing or wishing to play in the illegal league to stop with immediate effect.

    The statement, then added that failure to do so would result in their eligibility to play in the DStv Premier Basketball League, organised by the federation.

    “The coaches and players of such teams will no longer be eligible to work or participate in the national teams,’’ the statement said.

  • NSE goes tough on market manipulation, illegal dealings

    NSE goes tough on market manipulation, illegal dealings

    Authorities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) are proposing a four-level penalty for market manipulation and illegal dealings as part of efforts to tighten loopholes and enhance the price discovery mechanism at the stock market.

    The NSE is finalising an amendment to its rules to provide multi-level stiffer sanctions as deterrents to market manipulation and illegal market dealings. A draft of the amendment titled “prohibition of market manipulation and illegal market dealings” showed that the Exchange was seeking to impose more sanctions on market manipulations and illegal dealings.

    According to the draft, the Exchange may impose all or any of four penalties when it determines that a contravention has occurred. The Exchange may impose a fine equivalent to three times the amount of profit or gain derived by the dealing member in the alleged manipulation or illegal market dealing, which fine must be paid within 10 business days of imposition.

    Also, the dealing member shall be placed on suspension for a period to be determined by the Exchange which shall not be less than 30 calendar days. The Exchange shall also forthwith withdraw the registration of the authorised clerk or clerks involved in the transaction.The Exchange shall also cancel all of the affected trades based on inappropriate market behavior.

    The new rules prohibit stockbrokers from directly or indirectly use or knowingly participate in the use of any manipulative, improper, false or deceptive practice of trading in a security listed on the Exchange which practice creates or might create a false or deceptive appearance of the trading activity in connection with; or an artificial price for, that security either for his own account or on behalf of another person.

    The rules also prohibit dealing members from placing an order to buy or sell listed securities which, to his or her knowledge will, if executed, have the effect contemplated in paragraph creating false or deceptive market.

    The rules describe manipulative, improper, false or deceptive trading practices to include approving or entering an order to buy or sell a security traded on the floor of the Exchange which involves no change in the beneficial ownership of that security.

    Manipulative, improper, false and deceptive trading practices also include approving or entering an order to buy or sell a security traded on the floor of the Exchange with the knowledge that an opposite order or orders of substantially the same size at substantially the same time and at substantially the same price, have been or will be entered by or for the same or different persons with the intention of creating a false or deceptive appearance of active trading in connection with; or an artificial market price for, that security.

    Also, any stockbroker that approve or enter orders to buy a security traded on the floor of the Exchange at successively higher prices or orders to sell a security listed at successively lower prices for the purpose of unduly or improperly influencing the market price of such security as well as anyone that approve or enter an order at or near the close of the market, the primary purpose of which is to change or maintain the closing price of a security traded on the floor of the Exchange shall be deemed to have engaged in market manipulation.

  • Weeding out illegal, substandard laboratories

    Weeding out illegal, substandard laboratories

    It is no more business as usual for substandard  and illegal medical laboratories,including those in hospitals and clinics as the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, National Task Force on laboratory/IVDs is on their trail.They are being weeded out .

    The task force has sealed off 28 facilities in Lagos for failing to meet minimum standards, or for operating without council’s approval or both. Also, four persons were arrested for quackery and impersonation.

    Reliving his experience, Deputy Director, External Quality Assuarance and Safety, Godwin Ikpetaye said ‘’one of the critical experiences we encountered was a case of a sonographer who also runs a laboratory alongside his sonograph practice at the Ojo area of Lagos.

    “The man actually employed a medical scientist but incidentally, the employee was not an experienced one, by the standard of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria. The type of laboratory scientist that this young man was able to employ belongs to the level of certain laboratory scientists that should be undergoing mentorship. It was obvious that he doesn’t have experience, and being made to do more than he is trained to do. Going to copies of results in the outlet, we observed that the laboratory issues out certain results that are only compatible with people who are in the mortuary, nobody alive can have such a result. For instance, the laboratory gave out a result for electrolyte urea and creatinea, which is used to assess the kidney function and probably electrolyte balancing in the body. If the kidney is bad, the person will need a kidney replacement or perhaps dies if he doesn’t get replacement.  If the electrolyte balance is not maintained and the organs that are supposed to maintain it are not able to, that will lead to organ failure and the person will obviously die. We sort to find out why this was so, and found out that the person is not experienced, his area of specialty is hematology and he is just from school and is not supposed to be doing what he is doing because he has not been mentored enough. Unfortunately, the result had been taken to a medical doctor, we only met a copy of what he has issued out and so that gave us an impression of how much damage he must have caused. We had no choice but to seal the lab and arrest them and took them to the police. They have made statements to the police and we intend to prosecute them for criminal activities. The lab is around Ojo area in the state.”

    Ikpetaye said there are several others who engage in unprofessional acts but the public should always look out for the Neon signs and the certificate issued by the council, conspicuously displayed in any registered laboratory, “where you see a lab, because of lack of quality control, lack of external quality assurance, they issue results that are damp.For instanc, there was a particular lab that we looked at and for only this year, year  January and February not talking about last year, he has had up to 100 patients coming in for malaria parasite test and all the results were positive.  And we know that is not possible, you can’t have all your patients coming in for malaria parasite screening, testing positive, the problem we feel then  is that either the person is inexperienced,or doesn’t know what he is doing or is forging them or the reagents he is using are bad or for whatever reason, we couldn’t come in terms with what he was doing. When you don’t have quality control to control your processes, you don’t have external quality assurance to compare your results with standard processes, the tendency is to issue out such results that are not reliable.”

    He said worse is the plethora of results for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), “This is a challenge of incompetence, most of the people who issue these results are not competent, they may have been trained, but not up to the level they are operating in. For first of all, you are trained in the class room then trained in the laboratory on different aspects of diagnosis. Not all of us got all the knowledge we have in the classroom  , we grow and get skill based on acquired knowledge. Patients also feel that if they don’t get a positive result the laboratory scientists have not done anything, that is, they have not carried out any diagnosis so they go ahead to forge results and give fake results. That is why we advise the public to go to only approved laboratories that are considered competent and can issue reliable results.”

    The Chairman of the Task Force/IVDs Inspection, Dr Lawrena Okoro, said within the first week of their assignment, in Lagos, 116 facilities were visited while others that have minor flaws have been warned to put corrective action in place without delay. It would be recalled also that the Task Force carried out a similar exercise last year, combing the nooks and crannies of Abuja, during which 15 facilities were sealed off.

    Dr Okoro said, “We are already combing the nooks and crannies of this mega city, flushing out quacks that have no business being in any medical laboratory; we shall rid facilities and markets of fake or substandard reagents, kits, chemicals, equipment and consumables. In doing so, we have sometimes encountered encumbrances along the way, including the nefarious operators that bolt away on sighting members of the task force, and those who remove their signs and pretend they never really existed. Some of the facilities were also found to be operating without regard for the approved guidelines.”

  • Family demands justice over artiste’s ‘illegal’ arrest

    Family demands justice over artiste’s ‘illegal’ arrest

    •Police: we acted on petition

    Were the police used to intimidate an artiste, Adekunle Balogun, aka Dragnet, and his family at Oke-Afa in Isolo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State last Friday?

    Residents of Low Cost Housing Estate at Oke-Afa are accusing the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) operatives of inhuman treatment of Dragnet while arresting him last Friday.

    The two men in FSARS outfit reportedly stormed the Baloguns’ Block 435 Flat 5 home, to arrest Dragnet based on a petition by a neighbour, Adeyemi Bello.

    The FSARS men allegedly pounced on Dragnet, who was washing his brother’s car,  before confirming his identity.

    “After attacking me from behind, I asked ‘what happened? What did I do? They said ‘are you Adekunle Balogun? I replied ‘yes.’ The next thing was they handcuffed my legs and started dragging me on the floor as if I am a hardened criminal,” Dragnet told The Nation.

    The Nation learnt that the police action infuriated his neighbours, who wondered why he was being “maltreated”.

    The residents were seen in a video footage, asking: “What has he done?”; “Where is the arrest warrant?”; “You will kill somebody here;” “You are on inhuman errand;” “You can’t take him away;” “Whoever sent you to do this should fear God;” “God will punish you for this maltreatment;” “He is not going anywhere;” “You are going to kill everybody here;”

    Dragnet’s mother, Mrs Balogun, who strapped a baby on her back, was also seen in the video crying and beckoning on people to help save her son. “My son is not a robber. He has not stolen anybody’s thing. How come he is being treated in this manner? Help me! He didn’t do anything. Don’t let these people kill my son.”

    Dragnet was taken to Ejigbo Police Station and transferred to SARS Headquarters in Ikeja.

    According to his elder brother, Tajudeen Balogun, whose car he was washing, all efforts to get him released on Friday failed.

    He said Dragnet was released on Saturday after the police found out that Bello’s petition was false.

    “He petitioned the police that my brother broke his car side glass and stole N500,000 inside his car. Can you imagine that? When we got to the station on Saturday, they didn’t mention the false allegation again only for the officers to say that the matter be settled and everybody left Ikeja after my brother was released. Does that mean my brother will just suffer for nothing? What about the stress Bello put other family members and neighbours into since Friday? This is a big slap on our face and it is injustice,” he said.

    Dragnet told The Nation that the officers came to do a hatchet job, describing their action as unprofessional.

    The artiste said: “On Friday morning, I was upstairs, washing the plates before my brother asked me to go and clean his car. When I got downstairs around 7:30 am, I was pouring water on the car when I just felt someone clearing me off my feet from behind and asking me who I am. I was explaining myself to him and before I could say anything again, he had put an handcuff on my legs without him mentioning the offence I committed. I saw another man who was dressed in a police uniform instructing the other officer to handcuff me.

    “I said to him, what is the meaning of all this that I am not that kind of person,  that I am an artiste and that even if he wants to do anything,  he should take it easy with me and that he should look at how he is molesting me.

    “At this time, they have already handcuffed my legs; the thing was tight and it was paining me. People rushed to call my family members and people came out with their cameras and were asking what is happening? Who are they?

    “They asked them to lose the handcuff on my legs but they didn’t. The officers told them that if they want to confirm anything they should follow them to Ejigbo Police Station. As we were on our way to the station, they did not say anything to us neither did we say anything to them.  On getting to the police station, they went through a register to confirm the names on the register and as they were going through it, one of the policemen just shouted ‘arrest this man’. From there, I was taken to Ikeja.”

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP), told The Nation that there was a petition against Dragnet.

    Badmos accused Dragnet of resisting arrest, asking: “Is that proper? It is high time that our people recognised that police is police and have the right to arrest anyone deemed fit. Let’s start respecting our own police but I am glad that when they got there (headquarters) the Officer-in-Charge looked into the matter and found out that it was a neighbourhood issue and urged them to resolve it amicably.”

    She urged the Baloguns to petition the Commissioner of Police if they believed that their rights have been trampled upon.

    Some of their neighbours told The Nation that Bello “is fond of using policemen from Ejigbo Police Station to harass us. We need Commissioner of Police to look into the activities of his men at Ejigbo.”

    Contacted, Bello yelled at our reporter, saying: “Why are you disturbing me? Don’t call my number again. Are you mad? What is your business with me? You must be mad.”

    He later called the reporter with another line, raining abuses on him.

    Bello also threatened the reporter, saying: “I am going to make an official report on you for your jungle journalism.”

  • Legal issues in destruction of illegal refineries

    SIR: Over the years, the federal government, via her Military Joint Task Force (JTF) has boasted of total clampdown activities on illegal refinery operators and/or oil thieves. It is not uncommon today to read or listen to reports on papers or telecast on how the JTF in Rivers, Bayelsa, etc, states have destroyed several illegal refineries.

    To state that there are laid down laws, rules, and regulations for virtually every activities of Nigerians vis-à-vis the government and vice versa is to state the most obvious. Ranging from the constitution to all other Acts and Laws made pursuant to it, actions and/or inactions criminalized and how to bring perpetrators to justice are clearly stated.

    There are laws regulating the operation of refineries in Nigeria even to the extent that violation of such laws is accordingly sanctioned. The principal enactment on the subject matter is the Petroleum Act, Cap P10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN), 2004 which provides in Section 3(1) that “No refinery shall be constructed or operated in Nigeria without a licence granted by the Minister.” Subsection (4) of the same section further provides that “the provisions of this section are additional to the provisions of the Hydrocarbon Oil Refineries Act.” The Hydrocarbon Oil Refineries Act, Cap 45, LFN, 2004 on the other hand provides in its section 1 that “subject to the provisions of this Act, no person shall refine any hydrocarbon oils save in a refinery and a license issued under this Act…”

    From these provisions, any place or facility used for the purpose of refining oil but without the requisite license is an illegal refinery.

    To determine whether a refinery is legal or otherwise, it must first be established that the operation is without the lawful licence envisaged by sections 3 and 1 of the Petroleum Act and the Hydrocarbon Oil Refineries Act respectively. Assuming that this first hurdle is usually crossed in the apprehension of the operators of illegal refineries across the country, the next hurdle is that which is expected by law to be done in the circumstance.

    Section 7(1) and (2) of the Hydrocarbon Oil Refineries Act provides as follows: “any person who refines hydrocarbon oils in contravention of the provisions of section 1 of this Act shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable – (a) on summary conviction, to a fine of not less than four hundred naira or more than two thousand naira or to imprisonment for a term of two years, or to both; (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of an unlimited amount or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both. (2) Any hydrocarbon oils in respect of the refining of which a person is convicted of an offence under this section shall be liable to forfeiture.”

    By the way, the penalty of fine prescribed by section (7) of the Hydrocarbon Oil Refineries Act leaves so much to be desired and goes to show how archaic our laws can be and how our legislature is hardly interested in updating our laws to meet current realities.

    From section 7 of the Hydrocarbon Oil Refineries Act, one thing is clear, the law expects that any person accused of operating an illegal refinery must go through the process of criminal trial to warrant conviction then, be faced with the legal punishment. It is crystal clear that the law does not envisage setting ablaze illegal refineries upon apprehending the operators.

    Aside the fact that the destruction is done in contravention of the law by the government itself, regard is never hard to the consequences of hydrocarbon fire (as a result of burning the illegal refineries) on the environment as well as human health. Need we be reminded that the environment in question is already subjected to all manner of degradation ranging from gas flaring to oil spillage among others?

    Is the government aware of the dangers of hydrocarbon fire on the environment and human health? When the law enforcement agents are the law breakers themselves, to whom do we run?

     

    • Ekpa F. Okpanachi,

    Anyigba, Kogi State.

  • Abia to demolish illegal structures despite protests

    The Abia State government has said that it will go ahead with its plans to demolish illegal structures in commercial hub Aba despites protests from the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the state.

    The opposition had alleged that the state government was targeting the buildings of its members in the demolition exercise with the aim to demoralise them and bring them to submission.

    But the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Godwin Adindu said that the demolition exercise in Aba will continue from street to street until to make way for free flow of waste water.

    Speaking in Umuahia, Adindu said that the exercise was not targeted at any group or individuals but is aimed at restoring the city to the status of a modern city which has been defaced with illegal structures over time.

    He said, “There is no selection pattern in the demolition exercise that is going on in Aba and there is no one or group that is the target of government; what we are demolishing are all illegal

    structures that contravene town planning regulations”.

    The CPS said that contrary to the insinuations by the opposition that the demolition was the state government’s way of paying Aba people back for not voting PDP in the last election, that the reverse is the case in this matter.

    Adindu said, “If the government should think or behave in relation to who voted or did not vote for PDP, it will not start its developmental work in Aba at all in view of the voting pattern in the election; we are not as petty as APGA would want people to believe.

    To us, Aba is beyond the voting trend of one election, the city is beyond the election, it belongs to everybody, to all Ndigbo and entire Nigerians, by developing Aba the governor is developing a place that is home to all and not to APGA people”.

     

  • ESUT disowns illegal Gboko campus

    The Management of the Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT) has dissociated itself from a campus operating in Gboko, Benue State in the name of the university.

    In a letter to the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Julius Okojie, the ESUT Vice Chancellor, Prof Luke Anike, said the institution had no campus outside the three in Enugu State (located in Agbani, Enugu and Nsukka) in line with the commission’s directive that all satellite campuses of universities be closed down.

    The VC noted that the letter was to clarify claims in a newspaper publication titled: “FG Bans 57 Universities, Sanctions Others”, which listed the university as one of those affected.

    The university warned that anybody dealing with the said “Gboko Campus,” does so at his/her own risk. It also urged relevant law enforcement agencies to arrest operators of the campus.

    Part of the letter reads: “That Management of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology hereby urges the law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute any operators of the so-called Gboko Campus of ESUT as they have no mandate to establish a campus of the university at Gboko. That any certificate awarded by the said “Gboko Campus of ESUT” is fake and does not originate from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT.”

    The campus was discovered by the NUC Committee on Closure of Illegal Universities and listed in the Monday Bulletin, as one of the illegal outfits.

     

  • Council chief warns against illegal structures

    Council chief warns against illegal structures

    The Executive Secretary of Iba Local Council Development Area, Hon. Isiaka Yaya has reiterated the council’s commitment to the well-being of the residents, even as he said the business of government is to cater for the people to ensure that they are happy. He said one of the ways residents would live happy life is through ensuring clean and healthy environment.

    Hon. Yaya spoke at Alaba Rago Market where he monitored the monthly sanitation exercise penultimate week.

    While urging the residents and traders to maintain clean environment which will guarantee healthy living, he frowned at the rate at which illegal structures sprang up in the market despite that they had been demolished by the construction firms handling the 10-lane Lagos-Badagry Expressway corridor.

    A statement signed by the Information Officer of the council, Mrs Jimoh Sharafat said the Executive Secretary advised the traders through their head, Seriki to desist from erecting illegal structures, adding that those who flout the directive would face the full wrath of the law.

    According to the statement, the council boss expressed dismay over unwholesome attitudes of some residents on the environment, saying some of the ailments which people suffer from resulted from unhealthy environment due to their unfriendly approach to the surroundings.

    “Basically, our attitude to the environment is very discouraging. For instance, the way we indiscriminately dispose of our domestic wastes is quite unfriendly to the environment. Indiscriminately people empty their wastes into our drainage systems thereby blocking them. The most worrisome among our attitudes to the environment is our penchant for tree cutting and building of illegal structures which prevent our breathing in dirt-free air.

    “It is time we shaped our actions with a more prudent care to avoid dangerous environmental consequences. Through ignorance, or indifference, we can do considerable and irreparable harm to the earthly environment on which our life and well-being depend. On the other hand, through wise actions, we can achieve for ourselves and our posterity a better life in an environment more in keeping with human needs and hopes. To defend and improve the human environment for present and future generations has become an imperative goal for mankind,” Hon. Yaya said.

    Continuing, he said: “No doubt, poor economy and reduced human development are direct fall outs of man’s activities that are harmful to the environment. These include keeping dirty surroundings, pouring refuse into the sea that kill or drive away fishes, dirty drainage system that empties its dirty water into the sea which kill the fishes, cutting down trees, improper management of domestic and industrial waste products, pollution of both the air and the sea, bush burning and smoky engines. These help in endangering our environment and present harsh economic, social and health situations.”

    Replying, the Seriki promised that the traders would co-operate with the council to make life meaningful for the residents, by keying into the council’s policies and programmes evolved to enhance the people’s well-being.