In Lagos State, aides of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, members of the ruling All Progressives Congress and residents who have become enamoured of the governor will argue the governor is working. That has become the sing song in the state anyway: Ambode is working, Lagos is working.
On Monday, September 18, 2017, many settlers, traders and bus operators living and operating under bridges, flyovers and other areas the state government deemed as constituting a nuisance to his Cleaner Lagos vision woke up to be hit by the practical vent to the ‘Ambode is working’ song.
Early on the Monday, the heavy sounds of bulldozers reverberated in the Ojuelegba and Ikeja areas of the Lagos metropolis as operatives of the Lagos State Taskforce moved in to dislodge illegal squatters from under the bridges in those areas.
The demolition operation began in the affected areas simultaneously following the expiration of the 48 hours quit notice given to those affected by the state government to vacate those areas.
Workers of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) collecting tolls from commercial bus drivers from commercial motorcycle operators at parks at Ojuelegba, Ikeja and Ojota were already at work when the task force bulldozers arrived.
Also, food vendors who had settled down to do their business of the day had barely settled down when the operatives stormed the parks and under the targeted bridges, along with armed policemen.
The food vendors, along with others who had converted spaces under the bridges to be their sleeping quarters, began scrambling to salvage whatever they could of their belongings.
At Ojuelegba, an elderly man, simply identified as Raouf who was understood to have been sleeping under the bridge for over 10 years, could not salvage his old mattress and paraffin stove before the demolition crew tore into his makeshift home made of corrugated iron sheet. “They came as early as 8am when I was at work,” Raouf said.
Also there, undesirable elements stripped off the zinc roofs of some shacks used as business arenas by petty traders before the demolishing job there.
Those who had moved their properties overnight before the expiration of the deadline counted themselves lucky as they watched the bulldozers moved from one end to another levelling structures.
Some miscreants who wanted to capitalise on the opportunity to loot property were unlucky as about 10 of them were arrested by the taskforce officials. Some other hoodlums, including members of the different transport unions, pelted the taskforce officials with stones and packs sachet water.
At the end of the operation on Monday, many commercial buses and motorcycles were impounded.
The chairman of the Lagos State Task Force, Superintendent of Police Olayinka Egbeyemi, had, indeed, warned at the weekend that the task force would carry out a full enforcement operation after the expiration of the 48-hour ‘Quit Notice’ the agency had served on Sunday September 10, 2017 on illegal parks.
Egbeyemi maintained that all illegal motorists engaging in commercial activities at Ojuelegba and Ikeja, by the Ipodo market and Awolowo Way were duly served a ‘Quit Notice’ to vacate under bridges immediately.
He stated that siting of illegal garages and parks has been contributing to the chaotic traffic gridlock across the state, stressing that no responsible and responsive government would tolerate the kind of criminal activities carried out by hoodlums and miscreants around those illegal garages.
“I had advised motorists involved in illegal commercial activities under the bridges to comply with the directives. Those affected are those who paid deft ears to the warning. I also warned that anybody caught engaging in these illegalities during the enforcement operations will be severely dealt with in accordance with the law,” he said.
Prior to the Monday operation, the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, while touring the state, had expressed his dissatisfaction with the indiscriminate parking of vehicles at Ojota by inter-state transport operators.
Consequently, the state government had announced the restriction of the operation of inter-state commercial vehicles operating along the Ikorodu Road to Ojodu Berger and Ojota motor parks.
The government issued a seven-day ultimatum to the operators to relocate to the designated inter-state motor parks at Ojodu Berger and Ojota, after which stiff sanctions would be applied to defaulters.
Speaking after embarking on a joint inspection tour of the ongoing construction of a modern bus terminal at Yaba and the beautification project at Jibowu, both in the Lagos metropolis, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde, said the decision of the government was in line with the determination of the Ambode administration “to free the city from avoidable nuisances and install sanity and civility in the environment.”
Ayorinde said the inspection was a follow-up to an earlier visit by the governor to the area, adding that all the necessary quit notices had already been served on the affected operators.
He said, “This is a follow-up on the visit of Gov Ambode to this axis last night and he was very displeased with what he saw, particularly in the manner with which long buses, inter-state buses are using the main town. What we have done so far is the initial announcement to say that henceforth, we will no longer allow inter-state buses to be along Ikorodu Road.”
Speaking on the reason for the ban, the Commissioner said the activities of the operators had not been “tidy and decent” despite repeated warnings, and that government could no longer sit and watch such things to continue in the overall interest of the people.
“In the overall interest of the public, what is tidy, what is decent and civilized is to move them to where they really belong so that we can free the city. There are major bus terminals springing up. People have seen what we are doing in Yaba, which will be ready by December. They have seen what we have done at the TBS and Ikeja, which are all part of the overall plan. What we have done is in the best interest of Lagosians, taxpayers and the public,” the Commissioner said.
The state’s acting Commissioner for Transportation, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, added that the ban was part of the plan of the government to properly utilize spaces under flyovers and bridges.
Elegushi assured that government had already provided more than enough spaces for the affected operators at Ojodu Berger and Ojota, saying that a stakeholders’ meeting would also be held on this week to discuss and allocate spaces for operators at the said parks.
He warned that at the expiration of the ultimatum, government would enforce the ban “and any operator who flouts the directive will be seriously sanctioned.”
The new General Manager of Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), Bilikisu Adebiyi-Abiola, dislosed that government was already working on an intensive design for the beatification project to be sited within the Jibowu and Yaba axes, adding that the project would soon be implemented.
She said the project was part of the general Greener Lagos Plan which the present administration had set out to achieve with the taking over and beatification of blighted areas across the State.
“The Greener Lagos Plan is for the benefit of all Lagosians so that our children can use them, and it is also important for our health because we are going to introduce greenery, trees and plants that would help the environment,” she said.
She said areas such as Lagos Island, Mile 2 and Festac were currently being considered for the beautification project in the short time, while there are massive plans to extend the project to all parts of the state.
In implementing the Cleaner Lagos plan, the task force officials also moved to the Rainbow bus stop on the Oshodi-Mile 2 expressway following series of complaints from members of the public on the criminal activities around the area.
During the operation, the operatives impounded 146 motorcycles and arrested 21 riders for plying unapproved routes.
The Chairman, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi disclosed that enforcement operations were carried out based on series of complaints to his office by innocent members of the public on the criminal activities perpetrated by motorcycle riders/operators around the Mile 2, Orile-Iganmu and Coker Aguda areas.
Those arrested have since been charged before the state mobile court.
Magistrate Lateef Owolabi of the Lagos State Mobile Court sitting at Oshodi ordered the forfeiture of the impounded 146 motorcycles to the state government.
He sentenced 21 arrested riders/operators to two weeks imprisonment with an option of N5,000.
