The Ogun State government yesterday said it has shut the popular Iberekodo daily market in Abeokuta, the state capital, for operating below public hygiene standards. The Special Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun on Environment and Chief Executive Officer of Ogun State Waste Management Authority, Mr. Ola Oresanya, who ordered the closure of the market, said the government took the decision to safeguard the state against the outbreak of communicable diseases, especially cholera. Oresanya explained that the government shut the market due to its dirty environment and the indiscriminate dumping of refuse by the traders. He added that the dirty environment would affect the safety of foodstuffs and other commodities sold at the market. According to him, since the traders had failed to heed government’s earlier warning to comply with public hygiene protocols as it related to market sanitation in the overriding public interest, government had no choice than to close it down.
