- New task force to bolster intelligence efforts in enforcing the ban to be formed
The Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) has intercepted a truckload of banned styrofoam packs in transit within the state.
The Surulere division of LAGESC apprehended the truck, a Mercedes-Benz 814, at the Ojuelegba area while it was en route to Cameroon.
In a statement released over the weekend, LAGESC Corps Marshal, Maj. Olaniyi Cole (retd.), expressed disappointment that despite the state’s ban on styrofoam, some individuals have continued to store the banned products in warehouses, intending to sell them at discounted rates to unsuspecting buyers from other states.
The Lagos State Government, through the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, imposed a ban in January on the use and distribution of styrofoam and other single-use plastics across the state to mitigate environmental damage.
According to Cole, investigations revealed that a plastic company located in Lagos Island sold the styrofoam packs, valued at N2,090,000, to a Cameroonian national. The plan was to transport the banned items through Akwa Ibom State for sale in Cameroon.
Cole reiterated LAGESC’s commitment to eradicating environmental violations in Lagos and warned that the agency would take strong action against all environmental offenders. He also emphasized that the ban on the distribution and use of styrofoam in Lagos remains in force and announced the formation of a new task force to bolster intelligence efforts in enforcing the ban.