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Oyo State Government has prosecuted 45 street traders in Ibadan metropolis for flouting the state’s “no street trading law”.
The traders who appeared before Magistrate Patricia Olasunbo Adetuyibi at the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources premises over illegal placement of their goods on public roads were prosecuted under Section 2, Sub-Section 14 of the Oyo State Solid Waste Management Offences, Fines and Sanctions.
The traders, who pleaded that they would not display their goods on the street again, were sentenced to two months imprisonment with an option of fine ranging from N5,000 to N10,000 by Magistrate Adetuyibi.
The state government had been sensitizing the public against street trading and display of goods for sale on public roads.
The state Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Isaac Ishola, said the state government had made adequate sensitization and enlightenment to stop street trading and display of goods for sale on public roads, saying street trading violates the Environmental regulations Laws of the state.
Ishola said, “We have engaged them on this cause, we have sensitized them, we have made them realise the benefit of environmental hygiene. Trading on the street is against the environmental regulation laws of Oyo state, we have made series of arrests and appearances before the magistrate. If they are guilty, the court will sentence them to prison or an option of fine, but we are not really interested in their 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”.
He advised traders to comply with the no street trading laws of Oyo state, noting that the government cannot fold its arms and allow the citizens to lose their lives all in the name of street trading and trading under high tension cables.
He reiterated further that it is an offence for anybody to trade with wheel barrow by the road side in the state, adding that anybody trading on wheel barrow by the road side would be apprehended and appear before the magistrate for constituting an environmental nuisance.