The Lagos State Government on Monday locked up a bar, Quilox Pool and Bar and three other facilities including Page One, Farms City, and Bien Mange all located in Ajah and Lekki areas of Lagos State for violating COVID-19 guidelines and contravening different sections of the State Environmental Law.
The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) officials led by Special Assistant to the General Manager, Dr. Adebola Odunsi and the Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Monitoring, Kayode Bello, visited the facilities and noticed that the operators of the centres did not adhere to the government directives on COVID-19 safety protocols.
The agency’s General Manager, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, stated that the agency had acted on a tip-off from a whistle-blower that discovered the infractions.
“The agency acted on a tip from a whistle-blower, alleging traffic congestion, flagrant disobedience of the environmental laws (public smoking and noise pollution) as well as non-compliance of the COVID -19 safety protocols. And upon arrival, the team noticed several infractions and identified same to the management, which led to clearing out the fun seekers and shutting down the facility pending full investigations.
“Our aim in LASEPA is to identify environmental violations across the various facilities visited, but could not afford to ignore the level of non-compliance to COVID-19 protocols in all the sealed facilities”, she added.
“Therefore, their activities remain illegal under the State’s guidelines on combating COVID-19 outbreak. All offenders, including facilities, event planners, organizers, and promoters would face stern repercussions as consequences for their nonchalant engagement.
”Apart from the environmental contravention observed in some of the facilities visited, we saw clearly that there were so many other pressing issues that needed to be handled and as such we are happy that all other relevant MDAs such as the Lagos State Safety Commission,(LSSC), the Rapid Response Square, (RRS) Lagos State Traffic Management Authority ( LASTMA) and the Lagos State Task Force are in sync with the Government to flatten the curve as soon as possible,” she said.
