On Saturday, June 28, 2025, 92 individuals were apprehended across Umuahia for violating Abia State’s environmental sanitation laws during the monthly cleanup exercise. The arrests were made by task force personnel targeting those trading at business premises during sanitation hours and others found loitering on the streets.
The offenders were brought before a Mobile Court presided over by Magistrate Onyinyechi Ibekwe. Of those arrested, 79 were prosecuted and fined, while 11 were released due to health conditions. Two individuals en route to JAMB mop-up examinations were also freed.
Representing the Abia State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Philemon Ogbonna, Permanent Secretary Ikechuckwu Oriuwa hailed the sanitation exercise as successful but expressed disappointment over non-compliance by traders at Orie Ugba market. He urged residents to embrace regular environmental cleaning without coercion.
However, the exercise was marred by allegations of misconduct. Kalu Mba Nwoke, Chairman of the Abia State House of Assembly Committee on Environment, who monitored the cleanup, accused police officers at the Central Police Station (CPS) in Umuahia of diverting arrested offenders to their station instead of transferring them to the Mobile Court for proper prosecution.
“Despite repeated appeals, some CPS officers continue to detain defaulters rather than hand them over to the Mobile Court, which violates the Abia Environment Sanitation Law,” Nwoke stated. He noted partial compliance during the exercise, with exceptions for those attending polio immunization and JAMB mop-up exams.
Authorities continue to call for greater public cooperation to ensure a cleaner and healthier Abia State.
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