FG Gives People Under Bridges In Lagos A 7-Day Ultimatun To Leave 

The Federal Government issued a final ultimatum on Wednesday to all traders and other illegal squatters under more than 20 bridges in Lagos to remove by March 31 or risk forcible eviction.

News Agency of Nigeria

Mr Oluropo Oyetade, Director of Highways, Bridges and Design, issued the ultimatum during an emergency meeting between a Federal Ministry of Works delegation and Lagos State Government officials on Wednesday to discuss the Apongbon Bridge fire.

According to the Nigerian News Agency (NAN), firefighters fought feverishly to put out the fire under the Apongbon Bridge on Wednesday morning.

Mr Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Works and Housing, has given unlawful occupants of Lagos bridges until March 31 to remove or risk forcible eviction and sanctions, according to Oyetade.

“I was about to enter a meeting concerning the Third Mainland Bridge before I was hurriedly ordered by the Honourable Minister to come here to give his directive and mandate that he has given to me, to announce that the area (Apongbon Bridge fire) should be cordoned off, which we have done.

“And that the inspection of the defects caused by this inferno shall be taken immediately the place cools down.

”But the most important that I must deliver here is that, all the occupants under our bridges particularly in Lagos, we are giving them seven days to pack away.

“Seven days counting from today. By 31st of March, the task force will swing into action and we will impound all recalcitrant elements that we find under the bridges.

“They shall be forcefully evicted. Not only that, they will be made to pay for any items we have to remove.

“Let me repeat and make myself clear, all occupants under our bridges, we have over 20 bridges in Lagos, should move before 31st of March,” he said.

He warned that as of March 31, a task team would begin enforcing the recovery of the right of way (RoW) on all 20 bridges in Lagos.

According to Oyetade, a contract for the reconstruction of the Apongbon Bridge had previously been signed, but the repairs had not yet been completed, only for the same bridge to be destroyed by fire.

The destruction to the Apongbon Bridge, he said, was an unavoidable occurrence.

According to him, the government cannot continue to build while allowing Nigerians’ irresponsible attitudes to degrade infrastructure built with vast sums of money.

The director stated that all Federal Controllers of Works have been asked to remove encroachers from all bridges across the country, while mourning recent bridge fires in Ajaokuta and Kano State.

He also decried the actions of illegal sand dredgers who excavated soil beneath the Third Mainland Bridge, endangering the infrastructure’s safety.

Three companies have been arrested in connection with this development, according to Oyetade, and will be prosecuted.

The director stated he was supposed to meet with the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) in Abuja to discuss sand dredger regulation, but he had to rush down to Lagos to deal with the Apongbon Bridge fire.

He informed journalists that the Apongbon fire was large, and that his engineers were working with Lagos State officials to devise the best feasible diversion alternatives.

Mr Frederick Oladeinde, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, said his ministry would issue a public statement on diversion alternatives after consulting with the public and reviewing and researching the best solutions.

The Apongbon Bridge fire, according to Oladeinde, would have a detrimental impact on traffic, and a combined team of traffic regulatory agencies is on the ground to manage a traffic architecture that will be created to alleviate the suffering on road users.

Earlier, Mr Omotayo Bamgbose-Martins, Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties, and Mrs Aramide Adeyoye, Special Adviser to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Works and Infrastructure, outlined plans to be implemented in conjunction with other agencies.

Commissioners from the Lagos State Ministries of Environment, Physical Planning, and Urban Development, as well as the heads of different Lagos safety regulatory and emergency management agencies, took turns advising the public and announcing traffic, health, and safety measures.

Mr Olusegun Ogungbemide, the Lagos Sector Commander of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC), also revealed collaborative traffic control strategies.