Ekiti State Government has reaffirmed that security of lives and properties of its citizens cannot be compromised, saying its high time operations of scavengers are regulated .
Special Adviser to Ekiti State Governor on Security, Brig. Gen. Ebenezer Ogundana (rtd) disclosed this in a meeting with the leadership of the National Association of Scrap and Waste Dealers Employers of Nigeria across the 16 local governments of the State on Thursday.
Brigadier, Ogundana said the government will commence official registration of scavengers to ensure proper recognition and monitoring for effective security, condemned nefarious activities of scavengers Ekiti, reaffirmed the state government’s unwavering commitment to safeguarding residents.
He noted that Governor Biodun Oyebanji empowered the coordinating agencies to take appropriate steps to checkmate the activities of the scavengers to avoid the brewing crisis in the State.
He said: “This gathering is to ensure that we guarantee the security of our people because we have been receiving a lot of reports of these scavengers who go into the communities and start removing what they are not supposed to remove and some of the infrastructures government installed for the benefit of the people.”
In the same vein, Director General, Bureau of Community Communications, Mary Omotosho revealed that recommendations have been made to the Ekiti State House of Assembly and the Ekiti State Board of Internal Revenue Service aimed at ensuring strict enforcement and boost revenue.
Her words: “We have made recommendations to the Ekiti State House of Assembly and the Speaker put up a committee to look into that. After this engagement, the House of Assembly will have a public hearing about their activities.
“They also agreed that we should regulate their activities to the point that we should capture them under the tax net because they don’t even pay tax. We will work with the Ekiti State Internal Revenue Service and the office of Attorney General of Ekiti State to have that conclusion we have on the form and then we begin the enforcement.”
On his part, Director General, Ekiti State Waste Management Authority, Sunkanmi Onipede reiterated that the registration process will curtail the menace of scavengers, adding that security agencies including; the Police, NSCDC and DSS will be involved for enforcement.
Also, Director General, Bureau of Civic Orientation and Citizenship, Olawumi Famuyiwa emphasized that community outreach and sensitization will be carried out to ensure that the appropriate information is disseminated effectively.
“We are going to cascade the information down to local government levels, to each zone and community to ensure that the message is passed to them effectively because if they don’t get the information from the right source, there might be misinformation. We are going to speak to them in the language they understand and get the information to everybody.”