Tension flared at the Ifo Local Government Secretariat on Wednesday as angry residents rejected assurances by the council chairman, Mr Olamilekan Kushimo, that the evacuation of a controversial dumpsite in the area would take time, insisting that urgent action was needed to avert a public health crisis.
The protesters, carrying placards with various inscriptions, marched from the NNPC filling station to the council secretariat, briefly disrupting traffic on the old Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
Residents said the dumpsite had become a major health hazard and had contributed to the deterioration of the only access road linking the expressway to more than 80 communities and villages in the area.
Speaking before the protest commenced, the head of the butchers’ association in Ifo, Tajudeen Gbogbolebu, appealed to the government to intervene.
“This place is not good. If the government can fix this dumpsite, more people will come and buy the meat we sell. We need the government to come and help us here,” he said.
