RismadarVoice Reporters, June 27, 2026
A 109-year-old akara seller was among 66 persons arraigned by the Abia State Government for allegedly violating the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, as authorities warned of stricter enforcement to improve compliance.
The elderly woman, Chidinma Eluwa, was arrested for frying bean cakes during the sanitation restriction period along Owerri Road in Umuahia and later appeared before the Sanitation Court with 65 other alleged offenders.
Presiding Magistrate O.C. Ibekwe discharged the 109-year-old on compassionate grounds after she pledged to comply with future sanitation regulations.
Of the 66 persons arraigned, seven were also discharged on health and student-related grounds, while nine offenders were sentenced to community service.
The state government expressed concern over the low level of compliance during the sanitation exercise, attributing it to the programme’s suspension for several months, which led to the accumulation of refuse in major markets and other public areas.
The Commissioner for Environment, Philemon Ogbonna, represented by the Head of Population Control and Environmental Health, Happiness Akpulonu, said the government may adopt stricter enforcement measures to ensure residents comply with sanitation regulations.
The government also urged local government councils and community leaders to mobilise residents for regular environmental sanitation, stressing that maintaining a clean environment should be a continuous responsibility rather than an activity limited to designated sanitation days.
