The Lagos State Government has disclosed that no fewer than 4,000 individuals arrested for indiscriminate waste disposal across the state in the past year have been prosecuted.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, revealed this during an interview with a Punch newspaper reporter on Wednesday, amid growing public concern over increasing heaps of refuse on road medians and other unauthorised locations across the state.
The arrests followed offences such as dumping waste on roadsides, drainage channels, road medians and other prohibited areas, actions the government says violate environmental sanitation laws.
Wahab expressed frustration over the persistent disregard for environmental regulations by some residents, questioning the rationale behind transporting household waste to public spaces.
“The question we need to ask is: why are people taking waste from their homes and dumping it on the median? Is that fair to the state? Sometimes you wake up and see people using very beautiful and expensive vehicles to dump refuse on the roadside or on road medians,” he said.
The commissioner stressed that strict enforcement remains a critical pillar of the state’s Clean Lagos initiative, noting that offenders are routinely prosecuted to deter further violations.
“We have arrested a lot of them. My belief is that there must be consequences for bad behaviour. That is why we take them to court. We have prosecuted over 4,000 in the last 12 months. We are not playing,” Wahab stated.
He added that effective governance requires the enforcement of laws, drawing a comparison with strict environmental regulations in other countries.
“There is no way you will have laws and you cannot enforce them. In Singapore, you cannot chew gum because you will pay a penalty,” he said.
Addressing complaints from residents about irregular waste collection by Private Sector Participants (PSPs), Wahab emphasised that payment compliance is essential for the sustainability of the system.
“If you don’t pay, how do you want to enjoy the service? They are business people. The government still intervenes by supporting them with subsidies and grants,” he explained.
The commissioner acknowledged that the state’s waste evacuation system requires adjustments but insisted that the framework remains viable if properly optimised.
“The system will work, but we need to rejig it to ensure operators earn commensurate income from their businesses while maintaining a balance where the Lagos Waste Management Authority also does much more,” he said.
As part of efforts to strengthen waste management infrastructure, Wahab disclosed that the state government is expanding landfill capacity with new sites currently under development in Epe, Oke-Oso and Erekete in Badagry.
“With the opening of new landfills around Epe, Oke-Oso and Erekete in Badagry, we must put proper infrastructure in place to make them attractive and accessible to the PSP operators,” he added.
The commissioner also referenced waste management challenges experienced in developed countries to highlight the global nature of the issue.
“This time last year, the whole of Birmingham in the United Kingdom was dealing with mountains of refuse for about seven to eight months. That is a developed country. It was a phase. All over the world, waste management is a challenge. But what we will never do is raise our hands and surrender. That would mean we have failed,” he said.
According to Wahab, stricter monitoring of waste contractors has recently improved sanitation conditions across Lagos.
“In the past few weeks, if we are fair to the government, things have tremendously improved. We have started monitoring the PSP operators and warned them that if they cannot meet expectations for refuse collection and disposal, we will take them out of the system,” he said.
He added that the Lagos Waste Management Authority had also increased its operational support to strengthen the system.
According to a December 2025 report, Lagos generates more than 13,000 metric tonnes of waste daily — a figure that highlights the magnitude of the waste management challenge facing Nigeria’s commercial capital.
