The Kwara State government has banned scavengers from operating in Ilorin, the state capital, just as it inaugurated a 300-person Environmental Task Force.

The environmental commissioner, Hajia Nafisat Buge, announced this yesterday while inaugurating the Environmental Task Force members in Ilorin.

She said the ban on scavengers' activities was part of new strategies to eradicate indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the state.

Buge advised all previously registered scavengers to do business at the government refuse dump site at Sokoto-Aiyekale off the expressway.

She said over 300 environmental task force officers have been mobilised to keep 24-hour environmental surveillance and enforcement in five units of over 70 earmarked locations in the metropolis.

Buge, who vowed that anyone caught dumping refuse indiscriminately in any part of the state would be prosecuted, said that punishment ranges between N50,000 fine for individuals, N150,000 for corporate outfits and between N250,000 and N500,000 for big firms as well as six months jail term.

She, however, said that the ministry formulated a third option in the form of community service for a number of days for offenders found guilty of indiscriminate refuse dumping.

The commissioner said that task force members comprise 75 environmental volunteers, men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), vigilance teams, legal officers, Ilorin Emirate Development Progressive Union (IEDPU), and environmental officers, among others.

"We are in the season when indiscriminate dumping of refuse is more rampant. It is, therefore, pertinent for a responsible government to take action to sustain a clean and hygienic environment for the healthy living of its people. The menace of indiscriminate dumping of refuse is an unacceptable phenomenon that requires urgent attention, especially within the metropolis," she said.