Lagos waste agency seals market

The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has sealed Sabo Market in Yaba for persistent non-compliance with environmental regulations.

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In a video posted on its official X handle on Thursday, the agency said the enforcement followed several months of warnings and engagements with traders at the market.

According to LAWMA, despite repeated notices and sensitisation campaigns, traders continued to dump refuse indiscriminately, obstruct access roads, and violate sanitation rules.

“After months of warnings and engagement, Sabo Market has been sealed for non-compliance. Traders repeatedly dumped waste on the road and ignored payment notices for proper waste evacuation. Let’s all play our part to keep Lagos clean,” the agency stated.

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The latest action forms part of LAWMA’s ongoing enforcement drive to promote environmental hygiene and ensure full compliance with waste management laws across markets in the state.

In recent months, several markets and public facilities have been shut over similar offences.

In October, the Itedo Market in Lekki was indefinitely closed for repeated environmental violations and illegal roadside trading.

Earlier in April, the state government sealed 13 markets and plazas along the Ketu–Mile 12 corridor for persistent dumping of refuse and obstruction of roads.

Earlier this year, the Lagos State Wastewater Management Office shut down public toilets at Katangua Market and those inside Ile-Epo, along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, for discharging untreated wastewater and sewage into public drains.

Similarly, the government sealed Oke-Afa Market in Isolo and Katangua Market in Abule Egba for “grave environmental infractions,” including indiscriminate refuse dumping and poor sanitation.

These actions are being carried out under the Lagos State Environmental Management and Protection Law (2017), which empowers LAWMA and other relevant state agencies to sanction or close facilities that flout environmental standards.

The law prohibits trading on roads, drainage setbacks, and other unauthorised areas.

READ ALSO: Lagos govt shuts Itedo Market over environmental violations

The enforcement drive also aligns with the state’s broader environmental reforms, including the July ban on single-use plastics and styrofoam across Lagos.

The series of enforcement actions underscores the Lagos State Government’s zero-tolerance stance on environmental pollution and its renewed commitment to keeping the city clean.