Ogun Govt warns Abeokuta residents to stop dumping dead babies in public waste bins

The Government of Ogun State has warned residents of Abeokuta, the state capital, to refrain from throwing their dead babies in public waste bins.

The state’s Commissioner for Environment, Ola Oresanya, issued the warning while addressing journalists in Abeokuta.

Oresanya while complaining about indiscriminate dumping of refuse and open defecation in the state, said residents of the state capital abuse the waste bins placed along major roads by dropping faeces and dead babies in them.

“We put out a giant waste bin along the road going towards the market, we put another smaller one around the place where okada riders are staying so that they can be putting their waste inside it, but every time we go there to clear the wastes, we found out that the bins contain faeces and dead babies.

“When their children die, they don’t bury them, they will just dump them in the bins. There is a major social problem in that area that needs special attention and we are looking at it holistically,” Oresanya said.

The commissioner also disclosed the state government’s plan to sanitise and secure the Pansheke pedestrian bridge from beggars and robbers.

“The bridge was constructed so that the pedestrians can use it to cross the road, but on that same bridge, you will find out that only a few pedestrians can use it, people on wheelchairs, physically challenged will not be able to cross that bridge. Is there any alternative for them? No, but we are working on that,” he said.

To prevent the destitute from sleeping, defecating on the bridge and attacking pedestrians at night, the commissioner said gates have been erected on the facility.

According to him, the gates are locked at 6 pm to ensure the destitute have no access to the bridge.