By Monsuru Olowoopejo

JUST like several other suburbs in Lagos State, the Olateju Street, in Mushin area state, has become an unusual sight to behold own to the stench oozing from several propitiations (called Ebo in Yoruba language), that greets every visitor to the community.

Residents who spoke to South West Voice expressed fear of an imminent epidemic, as propitiations had been accumulating for years without the concerned environmental authorities doing anything to remove them.

When our correspondent visited the street last Sunday, especially at the Vono Junction, it was filled with at least 50 plates and bowls made from clay, used to prepare the propitiations.

Some of the propitiations prepared with dead animals, boiled eggs, smoked fishes, palm oil and others had gone rotten, producing pervasive stench.

This practice of placing propitiation at road junctions many say is as old as the Yoruba race especially in the old Oyo Empire. It is said that they are offered to appease some deities in the community.

However, as old as this rites, residents are worried that despite the acclaimed megacity status of the state, unknown persons still litter propitiation within its suburbs and metropolis.

A resident, Mr. Chris Abioye, who expressed displeasure at the propitiations which litter the community said: “How can one wake up in the morning to be welcomed with calabashes and bowls filled with materials to appease the gods overnight.

“We really need the government to stop this, because apart from the environmental problems the situation is causing, residents are at high risk of a looming epidemic.”

Mr. Mauruf Ademola said that he did not have problem with people expressing their beliefs in whatever way they chose, “but such should not be done to constitute nuisance to others.”

Ademola wondered why the entrance of the street was chosen by the perpetrators to drop the propitiation rituals.

According to him, “I really don’t know why we have so many of these things in this area. I do not know why those who drop them prefer here. The practice has been on for some time and nobody is doing anything about it.”

Miss. Ramota Oremeji complained that the rituals had produced stenches that none of the residents could explain, adding that nobody was willing to remove them.

Oremeji said “We are afraid. If the items were allowed to continue to pile up, it could provoke an outbreak of epidemic in the area. You know these are fetish items, so nobody is willing to remove them. If we continue to live with the stench and watch the items pile up, an epidemic is imminent. We are therefore calling on the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, to take steps to remove these things for the sake of our health.”