EKITI HIGH CHIEF, 8 OTHERS JAILED FOR OPEN DEFECATION

The Magistrate, Adeosun Abayomi while delivering the judgment, lamented the environmental nuisance caused by open defecation, but however, gave them options to pay fines ranging from N5,000 to N15,000.

Penpushing further reports that, the Magistrate court also issued a bench warrant for the arrest of nine other persons who failed to appear in court for a similar offence, and ordered the police to present them for prosecution on April 25, 2019.

The Chief Prosecutor, Ebenezer Fashipe, while addressing  journalists after the conviction, lamented that citizens valued their wealth more than their health, with assurance that the local government would continue to prosecute households without toilets until open defecation was eradicated in the area.

The Team Leader of Bread of Life Development Foundation implementing a project called ‘Farewell to Open Defecation’ in Ekiti West and Gbonyin Local Governments, Babatope Babalobi commended the Local Government for taking the bold initiative in enforcing sanitation laws against open defecation.

Penpushing also reports that, Babalobi stated that, this would send a strong signal to all households without toilets in Ekiti State, adding  that the long arm of the law would soon catch up with them, with further assurance  Bread of Life, with the support of the European Union Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme phase three would continue to work with the stakeholders to eradicate open defecation in the State which he observed currently ranks the second highest in the country.

Meanwhile, the State Government has declared that open defecation and non-provision of toilets in the state is now a serious offence, and therefore came up with the policy of “One-House-One-Toilet” which has now made it compulsory for landlords to have at least, one toilet in their houses.