By Baba Yusuf Abuja
Residents and property developers in the habit of dumping construction wastes in inappropriate and unauthorised “places now face tough times as the Federal Capital Territory’s environmental mobile court begins weekly sitting.” It was gathered that the court christened Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) mobile court now sits every Th ursday and Friday, to try residents over violation of the environment and other related issues.
Th is is coming against the backdrop of swelling heaps of construction construction wastes defacing the streets of the nation’s capital. At one of the FCT mobile court sitting in Wuse Zone 6 area of the Territory, last week, three residents were sentenced to six months imprisonment, with option of fi ne. Another resident, who was convicted, with option fi ne in the sum of N40, 000, was equally ordered to remove the construction materials on or before Friday or risk jail. In his ruling, the presiding Magistrate, Ahmed Ilelah, ordered them to payment of N5, 000 fi ne or risk six months jail term. However, the court issued a seal up order on premises of nine accused persons, who failed, refused or neglected to appear before it, in order to compel them to appear on next adjourned date.
Th e Magistrate directed that the seal up order is to be eff ected on Monday (today), warning that any break of it would amount to contempt. Earlier, Prosecuting counsel, Barrister Udeme Umanna, had informed the court that 11 residents were summoned for allegedly contravening Section 27 sub-section 4 of AEPB Act, by dumping their construction waste in unauthorised locations within their neighborhood in Wuse, Zone 6. Also speaking, the Head of Information, Development Control Department of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), James Larry, advised residents to always keep their construction wastes within the confi nes of their premises, where rehabilitation works were being carried out. He said the FCTA decided to make the mobile court sitting to be held twice every week, in neighborhoods having serious environmental issues, in order to sustain eff ort at keeping the nation’s capital clean and green
