Anambra enforces environmental laws, offenders to face hefty penalties, including fines or three months imprisonment , sealing of properties, as well as suspension of business permits
Fear is spreading across Anambra as the state government has commenced a crackdown on environmental infractions.
These include a zero-tolerance policy on illegal dumping, a ban on single-use plastics, and an order to shut down car wash operators without a proper drainage system.
The fear stems from stated hefty penalties, including fines or three months imprisonment for offenders, sealing of properties, as well as suspension of business permits, using the Anambra State Environmental Management Protection and Administration Law 2024.
The Commissioner for Environment, Felix Odimegwu, said on Monday that the enforcement follows a year-long sensitisation campaign, public education drive and extensive stakeholder engagement across the state.
Odimegwu described the law as a decisive response to the worsening environmental challenges confronting Anambra, particularly erosion, flooding, and indiscriminate waste disposal.
The Commissioner jointly addressed journalists alongside the Managing Director of the Anambra State Waste Management Authority, Mike Ozoemena and the Managing Director, Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra, Celestine Anere, and they stated their readiness to descend on environmental law-breakers.
Odimegwu said, “To drive the enforcement, the state government has inaugurated a multi-agency task force comprising operatives from the Ministry of Environment’s Enforcement Unit, Environmental Health Officers, ASWAMA, the OCHA Brigade, the Erosion, Watershed and Climate Change Agency, and Forest Guards.
“The team is empowered to seal premises, issue violation notices, arrest offenders, and suspend business permits. The enforcement of the state Environmental Protection and Administration Law, 2024, will take effect from Monday, November 24, 2025, following extensive sensitisation, public education, and stakeholder consultations across the state over the past year. The state will now apply the provisions of this law fully, firmly, and without exception.
“The aim is to achieve aesthetics and urban beautification enforcement, and the Ministry has the legal mandate to enforce the beautification and maintenance of visible building facades, especially in urban centres such as Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, and Ekwulobia.
“All hotels, estates, markets, fuel stations, abattoirs, institutions, and facilities serving more than 50 persons must obtain wastewater clearance and connect to sewage systems.
“The state will no longer tolerate any form of irresponsible excavation, soil removal, or sand mining—especially near erosion-prone areas, gully sites, wetlands, watersheds, or natural drainage channels."
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