The Chairman of the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA), Dr. Samuel Nwanosike, has come under criticism following his announcement that movement would be restricted during the monthly sanitation exercise held on the last Saturday of each month.
Residents of Port Harcourt expressed fears that the directive, if implemented, could expose innocent citizens to harassment and extortion by task force officials. They argued that the state can achieve cleanliness without confining people indoors.
A Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Divine Umezurike, reminded Nwanosike of a 2021 Federal High Court ruling which declared movement restrictions during sanitation exercises unconstitutional and illegal. He warned that the directive was therefore “null and void.”
Similarly, a Law lecturer at the Rivers State University, Professor William Arugu, faulted the move, stressing that heading RIWAMA does not grant Nwanosike the authority to infringe on citizens’ right to freedom of movement.
