There was tension in Umuahia on Saturday as operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) clashed with policemen and members of the Abia State Harmonised Task Force over the handling of sanitation defaulters.
The confrontation reportedly occurred in front of the NSCDC headquarters along Aba Road, Umuahia, when security agents attached to the harmonised task force intercepted defaulters being held by civil defence officers and diverted them to their own office. The development drew the attention of the sanitation task force, comprising officials of the Ministry of Environment and other security operatives.
Attempts to compel the civil defence officers to hand over the defaulters sparked heated arguments, which nearly turned violent before senior officers intervened. Witnesses noted that the situation could have escalated dangerously as most of the operatives were armed.
Speaking after monitoring the sanitation exercise, the State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Philemon Ogbonna—represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Ikechukwu Oriuwa—lamented that the police and civil defence had turned the arrest of defaulters into a private enterprise. He accused them of diverting offenders to their offices to use them for manual labour instead of prosecuting them at the sanitation court in line with state environmental laws.
Ogbonna noted that while compliance with the monthly sanitation was generally impressive, markets and motor parks remained the biggest violators. He warned that traders at Orieugba, Ahiaukwu Olokoro, Ubakala and other markets would face stricter enforcement in subsequent exercises.
Similarly, Chairman of the House Committee on Environment, Hon. Kalu Mba-Nwoke, condemned the conduct of some uniformed men, alleging that they were sabotaging government efforts. He recalled an incident at FMC Junction where a plainclothes civil defence officer allegedly forced his way through a blockade and later returned with reinforcements to assault sanitation officials, tearing the uniform of a vigilante operative in the process.
On her part, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Prof. Ijeoma Iheukwumere, urged women and youths to take the lead in keeping Abia clean. She emphasized that environmental sanitation should not be seen as a monthly ritual but as a daily responsibility for the collective good of society.
She added that citizens would save themselves the embarrassment of arrest and prosecution if they embraced cleanliness as a lifestyle rather than waiting for government enforcement.
Meanwhile defaulters arrested were 63, while
10 persons were pardoned because of health challenges, underage and examination, a total number of 53 persons were prosecuted in line with basic environmental law.
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