Osun state Waste Management Agency (OWMA), on Friday, ordered owners of the five goats arrested in Dele-Yesa area of Osogbo, the state capital on Tuesday to pay the sum of N10,000 each as fine into the coffers of the state government or forfeit the animals
The Director of Environmental Management and Sanitation Agency (OWMA), Mr Henry Ogunbanwo said any of the owners of the goats who failed to pay the fine within seven days would lose their animals.
He said the agency’s order was in tandem with the provisions of article 101 of the 2002 laws of Osun State which forbids rearing of animals in residential areas, pointing out that the agency had the backing of the court for its operations.
While contending that OWMA had been legally empowered to arrest any stray animal roaming around residential areas within the state, Ogunbanwo disclosed that some owners of the arrested goats had approached the agency to claim their goats.
He said the owners of the animals are compelled by law to pay the prescribed fine or forfeit the ownership of the goats.
Ogunbanwo, who said his agency had before now been apprehending goats and other domestic animals, roaming the streets, said the arrested goats were capable of transmitting tuberculosis, anthrax and other zoonotis diseases
He warned owners of domestic animals in the state against allowing them to roamed the streets by keeping them in a cage to avoid being arrested by the agency.
A top government official in the state, who pleaded anonymity informed Saturday Tribune that “We are not going to release the goats until their owners show up.
They have to face prosecution for violating environmental laws of the state. If they refused to come out, the goats would remain where they are currently being kept.”
According to him, “There is a law governing the rearing of domestic animals. It is incumbent on the owners of these animals to keep them, such that they would not constitute nuisance to the environment.
“The arrested goats ran foul of the laws. We cannot charge them to court. But we are still waiting for their owners so that they can face the law for the offences committed by the goats,” he remarked.
However, investigations conducted by Saturday Tribune indicated that owners of domestic goats and dogs in Osogbo, the state capital, are now apprehensive over the fate of their pets as most of them are now locking up their goats in cages within their households so that officials of OWMA would not arrest them for flouting environmental laws.
It would be recalled that five goats were arrested on Tuesday by the OWMA around Dele-Yesa area in Osogbo for violating environmental laws.
The chairman of OWMA said then that the goats would be charged to court by the agency and would also be prosecuted in accordance with the laws guiding environmental protection in the state.
He stated, “Officials of the agency would go to every nook and cranny of the state to arrest animals violating the state’s environmental laws. Owners of such animals would also be equally dealt with within the ambit of laws.”
Many residents of Osogbo, the capital of Osun State were jolted when they were confronted with the story of the arrest of five goats by the officials of OWMA on Tuesday.
While some people still find it hard to believe that the five goats accused of violating the environmental laws of the state could be arrested, others perceived the development as not only absurd, but also unprecedented in the history of the state.
Oblivious of their offence, the arrested goats must have gone out from the domains of their owners to feed on remnants or crumbs on the streets only to get caught by the officials of the OWMA.
However, the development is fast creating concern on the part of the people, rearing domestic animals in the state, taking into consideration the resolve of the state government to clamp down on any domestic animal found astray on the streets.
Although, there is a subsisting law, mandating individuals who owns domestic animals to keep them in cages so that they would not constitute disturbance to the peace and neatness of the environment, some people contended that there is crucial need to create better awareness and sensitise the public on the enforcement of the law.
When Saturday Tribune visited the office of the waste management agency at Alekuwodo, it was discovered that the goats were still being held, with the expectation that their owners would come for them.