Lagos: controlled movement restriction during sanitation lawful
Lagos State Government has said no judgment will be violated if it chooses to restrict or control movement during environmental sanitation exercise. Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Lawal Pedro (SAN),
Lagos State Government has said no judgment will be violated if it chooses to restrict or control movement during environmental sanitation exercise.
Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Lawal Pedro (SAN), in a statement, said: “The narration in the media on the Court of Appeal Ruling in respect of the case on environmental sanitation in Lagos is not correct.
“In fact, the subsisting Court of Appeal judgment in CA/L/381/2015 delivered on 23rd November 2021, is in favour of the State Government.
“The court held that the environmental sanitation exercise in Lagos State was valid and backed by law and that the fundamental right of the applicant, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (now an SAN), was not breached.
“It was Mr. Adegboruwa who was dissatisfied with the judgment that appealed to the Supreme Court. This was a case I personally prosecuted.
Read Also: FG inducts, charges ambassadors-designate to secure partnership, amplify true picture of Nigeria
“The Supreme Court is yet to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, and unless there is a subsequent Court of Appeal judgment, which I am not aware of, that restrained the conduct of environmental sanitation exercise in Lagos State, it will not be unlawful to have a controlled movement during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise.
“The November 2010 judgment of the Court of Appeal, of the same Lagos Division, in the Faith Okafor vs. Lagos State Government & Anor, cannot be regarded as the extant position of the law and can be said to have been superseded by the current 2021 judgment of the same court.
“Therefore, if Lagos State government chooses to restrict movement during the period of environmental sanitation exercise, it will not be in contravention of a subsisting judgment of the Court of Appeal.
“However, what the government introduced is a controlled movement of residents during the period of environmental sanitation exercise without affecting the fundamental rights of movement, and residents are free to go anywhere they wish through roads and streets that are not blocked.
“In other words, streets where cleaning is ongoing may be blocked to protect people and officials involved in the cleaning exercise from motorists.”
