Lagos Sanitation Exercise Illegal, Say SANs Falana, Adegboruwa
Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Femi Falana and Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa, have described as illegal and unconstitutional the directive of the Lagos State Government for citizens to stay indoors on the last Saturday of every month.
Human Rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, called on residents of Lagos State to ignore the restriction of movement imposed during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise.
Similarly, in a Press Release, Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa said that in the forceful enforcement of the directive, the government deployed all its arsenals, including law enforcement agencies, LASTMA, health officers, and even ‘area boys’ to harass, intimidate, and threaten innocent citizens from the lawful exercise of their fundamental and constitutional rights to move freely during the sanitation exercise today.
According to Adegboruwa, the government claims to rely on a particular health law of 2017, which it had refused to publish or make available to the public for confirmation and scrutiny.
“For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, there is currently no law in force in Lagos State which permits the government to restrict the movement of persons for the purpose of enforcing monthly environmental sanitation, ” the senior lawyer said.
He, therefore, challenged the government to publish such a law, if it exists at all.
For him, a megacity like Lagos does not need to force citizens indoors for two hours in the name of sanitation if the government gets its acts together for positive policy direction and implementation.
He also described as archaic and anachronistic the claim of the government to position the state for global recognition and to, at the same time, cling to what he called the relics of dictatorial policies of the inglorious military era and discarded methods of cleanliness which are not in tandem with best global practices.
The SAN said that a government voted into power by the people should not turn around to deploy brute force to compel the people into submission and to abuse state power to oppress the people and keep them indoors against their will.
The Lagos State Government had directed residents across the five divisions of the state to remain indoors and participate in the monthly environmental sanitation exercise scheduled for Saturday, April 25, between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.
Falana stated that residents were free to go about their normal daily activities as there was no law restricting movement for the exercise.
He described the restriction on the last Saturday of every month as unconstitutional.
“From the information at my disposal, the Lagos State Government has not reintroduced compulsory monthly sanitation exercise.
“To that extent, residents are at liberty to carry on their legitimate business during the sanitation exercise as the government has not restricted their movement in any manner whatsoever,” Falana stated.
He added that any restriction of movement is strictly voluntary.
He argued that Lagos cannot sustain policies rooted in military era practices that infringe on the freedom of citizens.
Despite opposing the movement ban, the lawyer encouraged residents to keep their surroundings clean.
He also urged them to cooperate with officials of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority to ensure proper waste disposal across the state.
Falana noted that the government has already shown its commitment to environmental management by allocating N236 billion in the 2026 budget for waste management, drainage expansion, and environmental protection.
