FG to constitute mobile courts to enforce sanitary law

The Federal Government is set to commence the enforcement of the sanitary law with the constitution of mobile courts to try offenders.

The Registrar of the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON), Dr Yakubu Baba, disclosed this when he visited the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said the enforcement exercise would commence in July, adding that mobile courts would ensure the speedy resolution of cases.

Baba said most cases involving environmental health could not be adequately handled in the conventional courts due to the peculiarity of the sector.

“Since I assumed duty in August 2020, we have been adopting the carrot method; now we want to deploy the stick method which is to go to the field and start enforcing the law.

“In our efforts to enforce the law, we have stages because we have the legislative record, guidelines and we also have the mobile courts.

“Most of our cases are not cases that can be taken to the conventional courts because such cases need not drag on for too long because this could be injurious to the health of Nigerians.

“So, we are ready with all that is required for us to hit the ground running,” he said.

The registrar said the enforcement activities were part of the council’s efforts to launch the rebranding of environmental health services in the country.

Baba said the amendment of the council’s law in 2022 gave it “power to bite because we had teeth before but we could not bite.” (NAN)