The Lagos State Government has banned cart pushers and wheel barrow operators from the streets of the state.

“The state government has declared zero tolerance for the activities of cart pushers and wheel barrow operators,” Tunji Bello, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), said in a statement issued on Saturday.

He noted that their activities are inimical to the environmental cleanliness in the state.

Bello remarked that the continuous activities of cart and wheel barrow pushers would pose a threat to the success of the recently-flagged-off Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI).

He explained that investigations had also revealed that the cart pushers are responsible for most of the illegal dumping of waste in canals and road medians at night, which causes flooding, adding that aside constituting environmental nuisance, they are also traces of security threats.

“What the state government has discovered is that this set of people use the night to perpetrate all sorts of dastardly acts.

“They dump refuse indiscriminately on the median of major roads and highways. They also pose serious security threats because they use those carts to hide arms and ammunitions and hide under the guise of carrying refuse to rob unsuspecting residents.”

He said the state government had finalised plans to ensure that the CLI would cover every area of the state and ensure that refuse are well-packed and collected. He urged residents to desist from patronising cart pushers or risk prosecution.

“Security agencies in the state have been directed to ensure that those found still operating are arrested and prosecuted according to the State Environmental Laws.

“The law also applies to residents who patronise cart pushers. It is an offence and the State Government would not hesitate to enforce the law to put a stop to such practice.”