Lagos agency arrests man for converting residential building to illegal abattoir

Officials of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps have arrested a man for converting a residential building into an illegal abattoir.

The man was arrested in the residential building located at No. 12, Alfred Williams Street in Iju Station.

The illegal operation said to have been carried out in unhygienic conditions, endangering residents in the community who raised the alarm.

In a viral video on social media, the building was sealed by the officials while the man was ushered into a stationed official vehicle of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps.

Confirming the arrest, the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a statement on Monday, said the suspect turned his residence, located on Alfred Williams Street, Iju Station, into a slaughterhouse following the closure of the Oko Oba Abattoir, Agege.

Wahab, in a post on his X (Twitter), said the property had been sealed and the suspect taken into custody.

The Commissioner said, “Following reports from a concerned citizen, our enforcement team has taken immediate action at No. 12, Alfred Williams Street in Iju Station. The property owner had illegally converted his residence into an abattoir following the closure of the Oko Oba Abattoir, endangering the entire neighbourhood through unhygienic practices and profiting from this reckless operation. The suspect is now in custody, and the premises have been sealed. This swift response demonstrates our zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of environmental violations, whether in designated facilities or residential areas.”