The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has warned the general public against attack and harassment of its personnel in the line of duty.
Ibrahim Odumboni, managing director/CEO, LAWMA, gave the warning in a statement on Tuesday.
Odumboni said that the attention of the authority was drawn to an attack on one of its highway workers (sweeper), who was seriously injured with a hammer and left with a broken skull, at Isolo Road by an unscrupulous element.
Odumboni said that the victim had been rushed to the hospital for intensive medical care.
According to him, the action of the offender is capable of disrupting the authority’s ongoing efforts to establish a cleaner and healthier environment in the state.
Odumboni, who condemned the act, warned that the attack would not be condoned by the state government.
“One of our highway workers (sweeper) carrying out his lawful duty at Isolo, was attacked with a hammer by a miscreant by name Alao Idris resulting in a broken skull, which required immediate medical attention to salvage the situation.
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“This sort of unprovoked attack will not deter us from rendering our services.
“However, we are sounding a note of warning to miscreants determined to undermine our efforts, that the state government will not tolerate these dastard acts, as perpetrators will be brought to book,” he said.
Odumboni said the incident happened in the early hours of Tuesday when the staff was going about his lawful duty of sweeping the street.
He said that Idris had since been arrested and handed over to the police for interrogation and prosecution to serve as a deterrent to others with similar intentions.
Odumboni appealed to the public to treat the highway workers with humanness and refrain from attacking them under whatever guise, stressing that anyone caught in the act would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
He also admonished Lagos residents to shun all forms of indiscriminate waste disposal with negative environmental consequences.
