Lagos shuts down Mile 12, Ketu markets over sanitation offence

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

LAGOS — LAGOS  State Government, Tuesday, shut down Mile 12 and Ketu Fruits markets over non-compliance to the state sanitation law.

Also, in anticipation of early rains, the state Drainage Maintenance Department and Emergency Flood Abatement Department had commenced the massive cleaning and dredging of drains and canals to attain the State Zero Tolerance on flooding.

Announcing the closure, Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, claimed both markets were closed for  flagrant abuse of the environmental sanitation law and indiscriminate loading and off- loading of goods on the main road, creating traffic bottlenecks for other road users.

According to him, there were inadequate toilets in the markets, while traders messed up the surrounding environment with human wastes, saying the closure of the markets became inevitable after several unheeded warnings to forestal epidemics and other health hazards in the state.

Tunji Bello noted that markets were meant for business activities and not for residential purposes and that converting markets to residential purpose would evidently cause untoward consequences on the environment.