No fewer than 4,000 persons arrested for dumping refuse on roadsides, drainage channels, medians and other unauthorised locations across Lagos State in the last 12 months have been prosecuted, the state government has said.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with PUNCH Metro at his office on Wednesday.
Wahab’s comments come amid renewed concerns over heaps of waste dumped on road medians in parts of the state, raising questions about the capacity of Private Sector Participants and the Lagos Waste Management Authority to effectively manage refuse collection.
Expressing displeasure at what he described as blatant violations of environmental laws, the commissioner queried the rationale behind indiscriminate waste disposal by Lagos residents, saying, “The question we need to ask is: Why are people taking waste from their homes and dumping it on the median? Is that fair to the state? Sometimes, you wake up and see people using very beautiful and expensive vehicles to dump refuse on the roadside or on road medians.”
He emphasised that enforcement remains a central component of the state government’s Clean Lagos strategy.
“We have arrested a lot of them (environmental violators). My belief is that there must be consequences for bad behaviour. That is why we take them to court. We have prosecuted over 4,000 in the last 12 months. We are not playing.
“There is no way you will have laws, and you can’t enforce them. In Singapore, you can’t chew gum because you will pay a penalty.”
In response to complaints by residents that the PSP operators rarely collect waste, Wahab emphasised the importance of payment compliance.
“If you don’t pay, how do you want to enjoy the service? They are business people. The government still intervenes by supporting them with subsidies and grants,” he said.
While admitting that the waste evacuation framework requires adjustments, he maintained that the system is workable.
“The system will work, but we need to rejig it to ensure operators earn commensurate income from their businesses, while maintaining a balance where LAWMA also does much more.”
The commissioner also revealed that the state is expanding its landfill capacity, with new sites under development in Epe, Oke-Oso and Erekete in Badagry.
“With the opening of new landfills around Epe, Oke-Oso and Erekete in Badagry, we must put proper infrastructure in place to make them attractive and accessible to the PSP operators,” he said.
Drawing a global comparison, Wahab referenced recent waste management challenges in the United Kingdom.
“This time last year, the whole of Birmingham was dealing with mountains of refuse for about seven to eight months. That is a developed country. It was a phase. All over the world, waste management is a challenge. But what we will never do is raise our hands and surrender. That would mean we have failed.”
He claimed that the situation in Lagos had improved in recent weeks following stricter oversight and enforcement.
“In the past few weeks, if we are fair to the government, things have tremendously improved.
“We have started monitoring the PSP operators and warned them that if they can’t meet the expectations of refusal collection and disposal, we will take them out of the system. LAWMA has also doubled its support in terms of capacity. That is why there is noticeable improvement across the state.”
Reiterating his stance on enforcement, Wahab maintained that environmental compliance must be taken seriously.
According to a report by PUNCH Metro in December 2025, Lagos State generates over 13,000 metric tonnes of waste daily — a volume that exceeds the daily output of some African countries — underscoring the scale of the challenge confronting the state’s waste management system.
