There have been reports of planned resumption of the monthly environmental sanitation policy of Lagos State.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has asked the Supreme Court to grant an order of injunction, to restrain Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State from imposing movement restrictions on Lagosians during the planned resumption of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise.
By a Motion on Notice filed at the registry of the Court on Monday, July 22, 2024, the SAN also listed the Attorney General of Lagos State, the Commissioner for Environment and the State Ministry of Environment as respondents in the application.
The application was brought pursuant to Section 6(5)(A), 6(A) & (B), 36 & Section 241 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as well as Section 22 & 24 of the Supreme Court Act.
The applicant, Adegboruwas is specifically seeking an order restraining the respondents, from taking any steps to restrict the movement of the applicant, and that of other residents of Lagos State, on the last Saturday or any other day of every month to observe any environmental exercise/activity, pending the hearing and final determination of the appeal pending in the Supreme Court.
Adegboruwa is also seeking an order restraining the respondents from arresting and detaining him and other residents of Lagos State on the last Saturday, or any other day of every month whatsoever, to enforce compliance with the environmental sanitation policy of Lagos State, pending the hearing and final determination of the appeal pending before the Supreme Court.
The court has yet to fix a date for the hearing of the application.
It would be recalled that there have been news reports of the planned resumption of the monthly environmental sanitation policy of Lagos State, by which all residents are forced to remain indoors for three hours on the last Saturday of every month.
In March 2015, the Federal High Court, Lagos presided over by Justice Mohammed Idris (as he then was) struck down the environmental sanitation programme of Lagos State and further restrained the Inspector-General of Police and all police officers from enforcing the said policy through indiscriminate arrest of citizens for non-compliance.
Although the Lagos State Government appealed against the judgment, it nonetheless abolished the unpopular policy.
