Refuse dump: dead babies being dumped there

Chief Raphael Nnabuife, Chairman, Transition Committee, Idemili North Local Government Area, Anambra, has decried the dumping of corpses of new-born babies in refuse bins in the area.

Nnabuife expressed the displeasure on Monday in a meeting with Landlords’ Associations, Market Leaders and leaders of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Ogidi, near Onitsha.

He announced that the committee had set up a special task force to monitor refuse disposal in the area, and warned that anyone caught in the ungodly act would be prosecuted in a sanitation court.

“We now have a special task force set up by the council to comb all nooks and crannies in the area to carry out this important assignment with all seriousness it deserves.

“Anyone caught in the ungodly act of dumping dead or living new-born babies as well as refuse not properly bagged, will be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.

The council boss described dumping of bodies of new babies and dead ones as “act of immorality and environmental pollution.”

He also warned scavengers to desist from littering environment of the refuse bins in search of items to recycle.

Nnabuife urged scavenger, who wish to search for such items to go to waste disposal sites located at Nkwelle-Ezunaka and Owerri road, Onitsha.

In their separate remarks, the Chairman, Nkpor Central Landlords Association, Mr Frank Obi and Secretary, Old Motor Spare Parts Association, Mr David Eze, commended Nnabuife on the initiative to set up a committee on the menace.

“More worrisome is the indiscriminate manner people dump refuse in the area.

“We hope to partner this committee to ensure that refuse is properly disposed of to avoid an epidemic in the area,” Obi said.

On his part, Eze also criticised the development, and urged the council to intensify the campaign in markets and hospitals, especially private hospitals.

(NAN)