Lagos State government has ordered all transportation unions, roadside traders, oil baron and all forms of illegal business operations on road medians and entire stretch of Lagos-Badagry Expressway and Oshodi-Abule Egba corridors to vacate or face arrest and immediate prosecution.
The decision to oust the affected persons and businesses from the roads has been reached by an inter-ministerial ad-hoc committee set up by the government in the wake of May 30, Executive Order issued by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on zero tolerance for traffic and environmental nuisances as well as indiscriminate dumping of refuse across the metropolis of Lagos.
The ad-hoc inter-ministerial committee which comprises ministries of transportation, environment, works and infrastructure, taskforce on miscellaneous offences, Lagos state parks and gardens agency, and Lagos waste management authority.
Taiwo Salaam, the permanent secretary in the ministry of transportation, says the order to the affected groups to vacate the affected corridors has become imperative to arrest the increasing disorderliness still being experienced on the Lagos-Badagry and Oshodi-Abule Egba roads.
“It is disheartening to say that the state of the two roads is that of total lawlessness through the activities of traders who have converted BRT corridors into trading centres; illegal activities of oil barons and gangs especially at Eric Moore who are using the corridor as their base; indiscriminate dumping of refuse on the BRT corridors; traffic bottleneck due to activities of some transport unions domiciled on these corridors and total breakdown of the traffic laws of the state,” said Salaam at a news conference today (Wednesday) at Alausa, Ikeja.
According to the permanent secretary, vacation order will enable the government move in swiftly and clear the nuisance on the corridor as well as restore.
“The public is hereby intimated of the plans of the Lagos State government to clean up the roads and recover the rights of way. Of equal importance is the environmental regeneration of the entire stretch of the roads which has been taken over by shanties, refuse and vegetal nuisances.
“The clean-up of these corridors nuisances which have combined to the make them eyesores with stench constituting serious health threats to the people is expected to commence next week,” said Salaam.
JOSHUA BASSEY
