11th February, 2024
The Lagos State Government on Sunday gave a four days relocation notice to all squatters under the Obalende bridge as well as illegal motor parks operators and buses who have moved to the main road.
Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab in company of his Transportation counterpart, Oluwaseun Osiyemi issued the ultimatum.
Others on the entourage were the Special Adviser on Environment, Kunle Rotimi-Akodu and Transportation, Sola Giwa; Chairman of the Special Task Force on Restoration of Blue Line Corridor ACP Bayo Sulaiman and the Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services, Engr Mahmood Adegbite and other heads of agencies.
They inspected Apongbon Underbridge, Obalende, Ijora Underbridge and Surulere opposite National Stadium.
Speaking with newsmen after the inspection, Wahab said all shanties and their dwellers, traders, squatters, cattle rearers and abandoned vehicles presently under Obalende bridge must vacate the area by Thursday afternoon as enforcement would commence in the early hours of Friday morning.
He added that all the commercial vehicles operators who have turned the main roads in Obalende into parking lots should relocate to the various parks provided for them because the government has had enough of the defacement of the aesthetics of Obalende by the operators and it must be restored.
Wahab said there is no going back on the matching order to the squatters and motorists in Obalende which informed the presence of the helmsmen from the transportation sector.
The commissioner who also inspected the level of work on the clean up of Apongbon Under Bridge also visited Ebute Ero and others areas, asking state officials monitoring the areas to ensure full compliance with the Governor’s directive that there should be no form of trading or habitation under the bridge and all adjoining areas.
“I will like to state that I am happy with the level of compliance at Ijora, Apongbon and Ebute Ero under bridge where the cleanup exercise commenced two weeks ago. The government is set to sustain the clean and safe environment adding that in a matter of months the space will be taken over by LASPARK,” he stated.
He said Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK) would move in after the squatters have been removed to commence work on the beautification and landscaping of Obalende under bridge, Apongbon Under bridge, Ebute Ero under bridge, stressing that this clean up exercise would spread to everywhere bridges exist across the state.
“Most of the places cleaned up are notorious sites that harbour criminals thereby becoming threats to the Blue line rail project bridges that passes through Ijora and one that the state government has invested huge resources in” he said.
Earlier at the Ilubirin end of Lagos Island the Commissioner said Ilubirin is strategic because the government is set to regenerate Isale Eko and to do that there was need to get the outflow of water through Ilubirin path.
He recalled that the governor was at Isale Eko late last year with the promise of regeneration, adding that the contractor needs to speed up pace of work to ensure that the project was completed before the rain commences.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi while speaking said the Ministry of Transportation’s collaboration with the Environment and Water Resources had been beneficial to the State Government in delivering its mandate.