The Abia State government has commended soldiers of the Nigerian Army’s 145 Battalion for their roles in the state’s monthly sanitation exercise, held on Saturday, conducted through “civic activities.”

The state government also criticised some security agencies in the state for allegedly diverting sanitation offenders to their own stations.

The Permanent Secretary of the Abia State Ministry of Environment, Ikechukwu Oriuwa, who monitored the exercise on behalf of the Commissioner for Environment, Philemon Ogbonna, described the day’s turnout as “a huge success.”

He praised the soldiers for cleaning heaps of refuse at a motor park, as well as markets, gutters, roads, and other surrounding areas along the Umuoriehi and Express Tower axis of Umuahia.

Oriuwa, who described the army’s involvement as a collective responsibility, said that many residents have embraced the sanitation crusade of Governor Alex Otti.

The Permanent Secretary, however, regretted the activities of some security agencies, who allegedly arrest and divert environmental sanitation defaulters to their own stations instead of bringing them to the High Court in Umuahia for proper prosecution.

Professor Ijeoma Iheukwumere, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Environment, also expressed satisfaction with the turnout but voiced concern over what she described as unprofessional conduct by some law enforcement officers.

She further regretted that youths had converted Enugu Road in Umuahia into a football pitch on Saturday morning, rather than participating in the environmental sanitation exercise.

Meanwhile, 95 of the 108 defaulters arrested and brought to the High Court in Umuahia were prosecuted, while 13 people were released on health grounds, being minors or essential workers.

Abia government hails Nigerian Army for cleaning Umuahia market, motor park