The elderly woman, identified as Ma Chidinma Eluwa, was apprehended on Saturday while frying akara along Owerri Road during the sanitation exercise, which restricts movement and commercial activities during designated clean-up hours.

She was arraigned before the state’s Sanitation Court alongside 65 other alleged offenders accused of breaching environmental sanitation laws.

Presiding Magistrate O. C. Ibekwe discharged Eluwa on compassionate grounds without imposing a fine. The centenarian subsequently pledged to comply with the state’s sanitation regulations during future exercises.

According to state authorities, a total of 66 alleged offenders were brought before the court. Seven, including the elderly akara seller, were discharged on health and student-related grounds, while nine others were sentenced to perform community service. The remaining cases were treated in accordance with the provisions of the state’s environmental sanitation laws.

The Commissioner for Environment, Philemon Ogbonna, represented by the Head of Population Control and Environmental Health, Mrs. Happiness Akpulonu, expressed concern over what he described as poor compliance with the monthly sanitation exercise.

He attributed the low level of participation partly to the suspension of the exercise for several months, saying the interruption contributed to the accumulation of refuse in markets and other public areas.

Ogbonna warned that the government could adopt stricter enforcement measures if residents continue to disregard the monthly sanitation exercise. He also urged local government authorities to intensify public awareness campaigns and mobilise residents to keep their communities clean.

Also speaking, Chairman of the House of Assembly Committee on Environment, Kalu Mba-Nwoke, encouraged residents to embrace cleanliness as a daily responsibility rather than limiting environmental sanitation to government-designated exercise days.

The monthly environmental sanitation exercise forms part of the Abia State Government’s efforts to improve public hygiene, reduce indiscriminate waste disposal and promote a cleaner environment across the state.