A young Nigerian man has allegedly been remanded in Kirikiri prison after being found guilty of illegally dumping refuse by the roadside, sparking public outrage across social media.
The incident occurred at Ketu-Alapere, where the man was caught on camera by a volunteer officer of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) transporting and disposing of refuse from his vehicle at Ketu Alapere. The offender was later traced to his residence, where he was arrested.
The video, which quickly went viral, was shared by Jubril Gawat, the Senior Special Assistant on New Media to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
“Just look at a normal human being carrying waste in his car to dump on the road,” Gawat captioned the video on X (formerly Twitter), using hashtags #KeepLagosClean and #ZeroToleranceLagos.
The arrest and sentencing come amid growing criticism about ‘Lagos is smelling‘, focused on the Lagos State Government’s handling of sanitation issues.
Public backlash follows
While the government praised the arrest as a step toward a cleaner Lagos, many Nigerians have slammed the decision to send the offender to Kirikiri prison, a facility known for housing hardened criminals.
Critics argue that while improper waste disposal should be penalised, imprisoning a civilian over the offence is disproportionate and excessive, especially given Lagos’ ongoing sanitation struggles and widespread complaints about foul smells across the city.
An Instagram user @grandstyl2.4.7 wrote: “Imagine being in Kirikiri with hardened criminals simply because you dumped refuse wrongly.”
omaalicha___ commented: “To put average citizens in jail no Dey hard una, why can’t you just fine him?”
lyrics_dmw noted: “Nigeria government will find every little opportunity to sha send you go jail, and people wey worth the jail are moving freely with escort… rubbish country.”
henry_aniegboka_ added: “This shows that this present government dey see everything happening online, but only wan to work on their own terms.”
Watch the video below …
Yesterday, 20th May 2025, one of @Lawma_gov’s volunteer officers captured this video of an unknown offender in the act of dumping refuse illegally at the location.
Just Look at a normal human being carrying waste in his car to dump on the road.
This happened at Ketu Alapere.… pic.twitter.com/LhVYNXySze— Jubril A. Gawat (@Mr_JAGs) May 21, 2025
