The Lagos State government on Thursday, Jan. 23, issued a 48-hour ultimatum to traders operating under Apongbon Bridge and traders operating on the drainage setbacks on Lagos Island to vacate.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, issued the notice while addressing the media after an inspection tour of the Savage/Elegbata Bombata Drainage channel around the Olowogbowo/Apongbon axis on Lagos Island.
He noted that negative human activities in the axis massively contribute to flooding and pose serious threats to lives and property.
Wahab explained that the tour became necessary because it was observed that the setbacks of these two critical drainage collectors, which are Bombata/Olusi and the Alagbafo collector, have been converted into shops/stalls.
He added that these channels were initially not captured in the Lagos Island regeneration process, and this could hamper the success of the regeneration.
He said: “I have instructed that the shop/stall owners be served abatement notices. We are going to clear these infractions and keep the maintenance work going while ensuring that the contract is revisited to accommodate these two collectors.”
Wahab, who observed during the inspection that traders selling livestock had also converted under Apongbon Bridge into a ranch and livestock market, thereafter ordered the immediate relocation of the livestock traders to designated markets, saying they contributed to the blockage of the two collectors in the area.
“What we saw is not something that we are happy about. People have fully built on setbacks and drainage channels, and when you build structures on these infrastructures, how do you expect them to be maintained?
“We have abused these infrastructures, and I have given directives to the appropriate department to serve a notice of abatement. If compliance is not carried out, enforcement will commence,” he added.
The commissioner said the government cannot fold its hands and allow anyone to turn Lagos State into a Hobbesian state, where life becomes nasty, brutish, and short, saying that infrastructures are built for public use, but some people have turned them into their shops. He said that the state government would stop this bad behaviour immediately.
He said all concerned stall owners would be served contravention/abatement notices, while ministry officials would return to monitor the level of compliance after 48 hours.
The commissioner warned developers and residents who dump building materials on the roads and drainage channels, causing serious blockages to the natural flow of water, to desist from such acts. He also ordered the immediate sealing of two buildings under construction—one on Alakoro Martins Street (No. 109) and another in Ebute Ero Market—for dumping building materials on the drainage channels.
He said the buildings were sealed because they stacked their building materials on the drainage system, which is illegal as it blocks the drainage system in the process.
“The buildings were sealed because they stacked their building materials on the drainage system and this is illegal because they block the drainage system in the process. Such offenders will be required to remove the materials and clean the drainage system before they are unsealed,” Wahab stated.
The inspection covered areas including Savage Lane, Cole Street, George Street, Abu Lane, Apongbon Underbridge, Olowogbowo, and Alakoro Martins Street.
Officials present included the Permanent Secretaries of the Environment Ministry, representatives from the Lagos Waste Management Authority, Lagos State Waste Management Office, and other agencies.