New Nigerian Newspapers Online Edition

Forty-three persons were in Asaba sentenced to various terms of imprisonment ranging from one month to six months for violating sanitation laws. Chief Magistrate Helen Okonkwo-Ikeh, however, gave them an option of fines of between 500 Naira and 10,000 Naira.

She also cautioned and discharged two others. The convicts were arrested by law enforcement agents for refusing to take part in the monthly environmental sanitation exercise. The News Agency of Nigeria correspondent, who monitored the exercise, said that major roads in the Delta capital were deserted except for the presence of security agents.

NAN reports that refuse generated from the exercise littered the streets and some residents were seen dumping their waste into open gutters and drains. The Commissioner for Environment, Mr Lawrence Osiegbu, who led a team to monitor the exercise, said Asaba would soon become a befitting state capital.

Osiegbu said the beautification of Asaba would continue to receive the attention of the government. He appealed to the people to cooperate with the government to make Asaba and other towns clean.