Clearly disturbed by the anger so far expressed in Cross River State and beyond over the high handedness exhibited by Green Sheriff personnel in Calabar who forced two students of Edgerley Memorial Girls Secondary School, Calabar, to pick up refuse wrongly dumped at a dump site with their bare hands, state governor, Ben Ayade, has in a press release made available to www.calitown.com, expressed regrets over the incident.
The press release signed by Christian Ita, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, referred to action of the Green Sheriff personnel as an “… over reach and lack of discretion of the officer…” The statement went on to say that, “while the State Governor appreciates the work that the Green Sheriff is doing in keeping the state clean and green, he will not tolerate actions that will increase risk of exposure of citizens to infections or other health challenges.”
“In line with this, the agency is directed to step up guidance of Officers of the Green Sheriff on acceptable methods of enforcement of sanitation laws and ethical engagement of citizens. The Governor also encourages citizens to support government’s effort to keep the state clean by disposing off their waste appropriately and building the cleanliness culture which the state is known for”, the statement added.
We reliably gathered that the Director General of the Agency has been directed to investigate the matter with a view to identifying the personnel involved in this bizarre act so that appropriate disciplinary action will be meted out.
Meanwhile sources within the Green Sheriff Office maintained to www.calitown.com that “our superiors do not need to go search for who and who was involved, we know who covered that beat and if they are serious, the people involved will be effortlessly fished out. Please help tell people out there that for us to do our work well, they must not flout sanitation laws … it is the little I can say for now.”