The Ogun State Government has sent strong warning to ‘emergency’ ram and other livestock traders to desist from converting any available open spaces into markets, saying offenders will be prosecuted.
Special Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun on Environment, Ola Oresanya, who gave the warning in a statement, said aside the fact that the emergency markets were illegal, they were being operated in an unhealthy and filthy environment.
According to Oresanya, the illegal markets were against the state’s environmental laws, while debasing the aesthetic value of the surroundings.
“The traders in these markets, aside from operating illegally, deface the land spaces with wastes and animal droppings, while those of them that trade in livestock, especially chicken and turkey, litter the spaces with blood clot and other foul-smelling wastes, which will contaminate the environment and spread diseases,” he stated.
Oresanya regretted that some of the livestock traders operate illegally by the roadsides, thereby causing heavy gridlock and exposing themselves and their customers to avoidable road crashes.
He cautioned those planning to run the emergency markets during the Sallah to have a rethink and move to legal markets or face the consequences.
Oresanya disclosed that health officers would be on duty to enforce the new order and prosecute offenders.