Onitsha Residents Applaud OCHA Brigade Crackdow on Environmental Defaulters
By Polycarp Ifeanyi
Residents of Onitsha, Anambra State, have commended the Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra (OCHA) Brigade for intensifying efforts to ensure environmental cleanliness, particularly in Upper Iweka, which serves as the gateway to the state and the centre of its commercial hub.
The residents also lauded Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo for prioritising environmental cleanliness in his administration’s agenda and empowering the OCHA Brigade as one of the agencies responsible for enforcing environmental health laws in the state.
They warned visitors from neighbouring states to adhere to the environmental laws of Anambra State, noting that defaulters risk paying penalties or facing prosecution.
“If you flout the environmental law, the only option is to pay the penalty or face prosecution. Why should people, especially visitors, not allow the law to take its course in Anambra State? With Governor Soludo, people should respect the law,” Hon. John Ibemeka stated.
Other residents who spoke with journalists in Onitsha said that, without the OCHA Brigade, Upper Iweka and its environs would have deteriorated beyond control.
They noted that before the creation of the agency, open defecation, indiscriminate urination, and indiscriminate dumping of refuse in Upper Iweka had become the norm. However, they said the situation had improved significantly as a result of the brigade’s enforcement efforts.
“If not for the OCHA Brigade operating at Upper Iweka, people would not be able to pass through the area due to the offensive odours emanating from human faeces. It would be a mockery of the state. You will find that many people use gutters as toilets. The tops and insides of the gutters were filled with human faeces.
“My worry is that toilet facilities have been provided around the area and along the expressway, but people refuse to use them and deliberately defecate on top of the gutters. Mobile dustbins have also been provided at strategic points for waste disposal, but many people ignore them and dump debris indiscriminately. When the OCHA Brigade arrests them, they take offence,” Mr. Ugwu Chukwuka said.
Another resident, Chief Ikemu Efuna Okoye, noted that despite the state government’s recent declaration of a state of emergency on environmental cleanliness, particularly the desilting of gutters to control flooding, some people still dump refuse inside drainages.
“Now, the state government has declared a state of emergency on environmental cleanliness, especially the desilting of gutters to control flooding, but some people still dump refuse inside the drainages. When they are apprehended by the OCHA Brigade, they begin to attack the government,” he said.
The residents specifically commended the state leadership of the OCHA Brigade and urged the agency to sustain the tempo.
“I particularly appreciate the efforts of the authorities of the OCHA Brigade, and also Mr. Ejike Odife, one of the coordinators of the agency in Onitsha. He has shown capacity as a leader. The type of war this man wages every day is intense because people do not want to adhere to environmental laws and do not want to face penalties when arrested,” Elder Emman Okengwu said.
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