OYO, JULY 24, 2018 – The Oyo State Government on Monday said 45 illegal street traders in Ibadan metropolis had been arraigned before magistrate Patricia Adetuyibi on the premises of the Oyo State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources on illegal placement of their goods on public roads.
Some of them were said to have got jail term.
The government said the accused were prosecuted under Section 2, Sub-Section 14 of the Oyo State Solid Waste Management Offences, Fines and Sanctions Law.
It added that street trading would no longer be tolerated in the state.
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Isaac Ishola, said in a statement by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Toye Arulogun, that the traders promised not to return to the street, adding that they were sentenced to two months’ imprisonment with an option of fines ranging from N5,000 to N10,000.
The statement read, “It will be recalled that the Oyo State Government had been sensitising the general public, especially traders in the state, to stop displaying their goods on public roads.
“We have engaged them on this cause, we have sensitised them, we have made them realised the benefit of environmental hygiene.
“Trading on the street is against the environmental law of Oyo State; we have made a series of arrests and taken the offenders before magistrates. If they are guilty, the court will sentence them to prison or an option of fine, but we are not really interested in the fines, but compliance to no street trading.
“In essence, all what we are saying is no more street trading which is what the law says.”
Ishola advised traders to comply with the no street trading law of Oyo State, noting that the government would not fold its arms and allow the citizens to lose their lives in the name of street trading.
