Benue State Environmental Sanitation Agency (BENSESA) says violators of sanitation laws will be prosecuted in line with the agency’s laws to serve as a deterrent to others.
Acting General Manager of BENSESA, Mr Martin Tseuma who spoke in an exclusive interview with Day Break in Makurdi, warned residents who are in the habit of dumping refuse indiscriminately to desist forth with or face the full wrath of the law.
According to Mr Tseuma, the the agency has Mobile Court which is responsible for prosecuting those who violate sanitation laws, stressing that those who have been arrested will soon be charged to court.
“We are going to clamp down on violators of sanitation laws. Now I have set up a task force who are at a dump site at High Level in Makurdi 24 hours to arrest offenders. The agency has a Mobile Court to arrest and to prosecute violators of sanitation laws”, Tseuma noted.
The Acting General Manager disclosed that the impact of BENSESA is only felt in Makurdi, the state capital due to shortage of manpower, pointing out that the agency has 78 permanent staff at the headquarters at the moment, which he said are grossly inadequate to carry out its daily activities.
He continued: ” I appeal to the Governor of Benue State to consider this place, if he wants our towns to be kept clean. Thank God, about two weeks back the Ministry on behalf of the Benue State Government entered into a memorandum of understanding with a private company to take over waste management in the state.”
Mr Tseuma applauded the Governor for restoring back the one hundred thousand naira per local government which Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs used to remit to the agency but later stopped, stating that it will enable them to do their job efficiently.
