The rate at which bodies of dead new born babies are being dumped in refuse bins has been described as alarming and unfortunate.
Chief Raphael Nnabuife, the chairman, Transition Committee, Idemili North Local Goveenment Area of Anambra State expressed the displeasure on Monday during a meeting with Landlords’ Associations, Market Leaders and leaders of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in Ogidi, near Onitsha.
Nnabuife 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.
He said: “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.”
The council boss described dumping of bodies of new babies and dead ones as “act of immorality and environmental pollution”.
Nnabuife also warned scavengers to desist from littering environment of the refuse bins in search of items to recycle.
Nnabuife urged scavengers 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, Frank Obi, and Secretary, Old Motor Spare Parts Association, David Eze, commended Nnabuife on the initiative to set up a committee on the menace.
Obi said: “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.”
On his part, Eze also criticised the development and urged the council to intensify the campaign in markets and hospitals, especially private hospitals.
