How weak enforcement of environmental laws is killing Lagosians

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. This is a principle well established in jurisprudence. Yet, in Lagos State, environmental crimes have become normalised due to years of neglect and official complicity. What began as an exception has now evolved into a dangerous norm: refuse is dumped carelessly on major highways, in full view of officials from the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), who return weekly, not to enforce the law, but to quietly clear the waste, indirectly legitimising the offense.

Rather than upholding the law, some LAWMA officials now perpetrate violations of it. Instead of enforcing waste disposal regulations house by house and street by street, they act as silent accomplices, facilitating a growing environmental crisis that claims the lives of the people annually.

It is important to note that Lagos State does not lack laws. Both federal and state statutes explicitly criminalise illegal waste disposal and provide enforcement mechanisms. Among these are: Section 245 of the Criminal Code Act prohibits the unlawful dumping of harmful substances in public places, Section 10 of the same Act criminalises aiding and abetting illegal acts, including environmental offenses, Section 56(1) of the Lagos State Environmental Law (2017) mandates every household to maintain a LAWMA waste bin, Section 56(6) criminalizes the failure to comply, and Section 57 empowers LAWMA to impose penalties.

Despite this clear legal framework, enforcement remains a mirage. From Sangotedo to Epe and across the state, heaps of refuse line major roads, while enforcement agents walk past with indifference. On many streets, residents now wait until Thursday—the day LAWMA is expected to clean up illegally dumped waste. This dangerous routine has created a system where illegality is anticipated and even scheduled.

When LAWMA officials routinely remove waste from illegal dumpsites without investigating or punishing offenders, they effectively participate in the crime. By failing to act, they breach Section 10 of the Criminal Code, which makes aiding and abetting a punishable offence.

The Lagos State Environmental Task Force and the police are also culpable. Their silence emboldens more violations and increases the burden on public health. This systemic negligence has created a culture of impunity that is both a legal and moral failure. The consequences of these failures are deadly. According to Anadolu Agency, over 30,000 people in Lagos died from environmentally related diseases in 2021, with 22,500 of them being children. These deaths were mostly linked to poor sanitation, polluted air, and contaminated water—all products of unchecked waste management practices.

In 2023, a cholera outbreak in Lagos claimed more than 15 lives within weeks. Health investigations traced the outbreak to contamination from illegal dumpsites in Eti-Osa and Lagos Mainland. In areas like Ajegunle, Mushin, and Oko-Oba, illnesses such as typhoid, malaria, hepatitis, and respiratory infections remain rampant—fueled by systemic failure.

Globally, Nigeria is a signatory to key international environmental treaties, including: The Basel Convention on hazardous waste, the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Therefore, each time an illegal dumpsite festers under government supervision, Nigeria not only fails its citizens—it flouts its international commitments.

In a landmark ruling in Centre for Oil Pollution Watch v. NNPC (2018), the Supreme Court of Nigeria confirmed that the constitutional right to life under Section 33 includes the right to a clean, safe, and healthy environment. This ruling places a constitutional duty on all government agencies to act. When they do not, they violate the law and the rights of the people they serve.

It is time to act, and no more excuses. Truly, Lagos is bleeding. Its streets reek of decay. Its children are dying of preventable diseases. Its government, through neglect and silence, stands complicit. The time has come to prosecute enablers within LAWMA and other agencies.

Concrete steps must follow:- prosecute all complicit officials under existing criminal laws; establish an Independent Environmental Enforcement Taskforce with prosecutorial powers; launch a community-based surveillance system to report violators; and create a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into LAWMA operations and failures. Enough lives have been lost. Public health cannot wait. The law must rise above rhetoric. We must act—before the waste buries us all. Nsianya is a lawyer and human rights advocate focused on environmental justice and legal accountability. He is the founder of Empathy Law Firm.