The governor mobilizes LAWMA, LASEPA, and the Ministry of Environment on round-the-clock operations after refuse heaps overwhelm roads from Mushin to Ajah.
Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has ordered an immediate waste evacuation across Lagos after refuse piled up on roads, medians, and communities statewide.
Gbenga Akosile, the governor’s special adviser on media and publicity, released a formal statement acknowledging residents’ complaints. And the statement left little room for doubt Lagosians, Akosile said, would see results on their streets quickly.
Sanwo-Olu’s order specifically named the Lagos Waste Management Authority, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. All three were directed to intensify clearance across every affected area without delay.
“I have directed an immediate scale-up of waste evacuation across Lagos,” the governor wrote Thursday morning on his Facebook page. “We have deployed extra trucks and personnel to clear the backlogs across all affected neighborhoods. We will not stop until our city is completely clean again.”
Refuse heaps lined major roads in Ikeja, Mushin, Alimosho, Surulere, Ikorodu, and Lagos Island, with rising operational costs and weak compliance by some residents driving a visible deterioration. Yet residents in communities like Jakande in Ejigbo LCDA had been watching the rot build for weeks.
A Surulere resident identified only as Olamide told reporters his assigned PSP operator had not collected waste from his building in three weeks, even while charging N10,000 monthly for three flats. He blamed the Olusosun dumpsite’s condition on persistent rainfall that had stretched truck turnaround time to four days.
“Lagos generates over 13,000 tonnes of waste every single day,” Sanwo-Olu disclosed. Managing that volume, he said, demands a massive effort, but his determination to resolve the current crisis was absolute. The scale of the backlog left no margin for half-measures.
According to documents seen by Westtrybe, LAWMA and its licensed private sector participation operators evacuated 418,500 tonnes of waste across the state in May 2026, averaging 13,200 tonnes daily. But 27 routes remained under review, and 442 PSP operators were active statewide trying to keep pace.
LAWMA Managing Director and CEO Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin confirmed that operational pressures in parts of the state traced partly to difficulties accessing disposal facilities during the peak rainy season. ZoomLion Nigeria Limited, LAWMA’s waste-to-wealth partner, has since begun stabilizing Road E at Olusosun, a corridor critical to truck movement inside the facility.
On June 11, the Lagos State Lottery and Gaming Authority donated 10 waste compactor trucks to the state government. Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources Tokunbo Wahab confirmed the trucks would be deployed to locations bearing the highest waste generation pressure statewide.
Beyond that donation, the government is supporting PSP operators in acquiring more collection vehicles. And 100 compressed natural gas compactor trucks are expected to roll out soon, significantly boosting LAWMA’s statewide evacuation capacity once deployed.
LAWMA disposal facilities processed over 418,500 tonnes of waste in May 2026 despite those disruptions, with crews clearing 3,000 blackspots daily. New transfer loading stations under construction at Olusosun and Solous III will collectively divert up to 4,000 tonnes daily into recycling and treatment once complete.
On June 25, LAWMA crews swept through multiple black spots in Apapa Marine Beach, Warehouse Road, Randle Road, and Mobile Road all received attention. Gbadegesin warned that anyone caught dumping indiscriminately would face sanctions under existing environmental law.
Sanwo-Olu appealed directly to residents, asking them to bag waste properly and avoid dumping in drainage channels or on roads. “As we continue this cleanup, I ask for your partnership,” he told Lagosians in a call that followed the prosecution of no fewer than 4,000 persons arrested for illegal dumping across the preceding 12 months.
