The Lagos state government has said it had intensified efforts to arrest and prosecute the ring leaders who rented out the under bridge apartments to tenants.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said this Friday at the on-going Ministerial Press briefing to commemorate the first year of the second term of the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
According to him, the government will not give up until the ring leaders are caught and brought to book.
He said, “All the structures have been dismantled and a total of 36 miscreants who lived under the bridge were arrested while efforts are being intensified to arrest the ring leaders who rented out the under bridge apartments which also add electricity supply.
“An unbelievable 80 rooms partitioned 10×10 and 10×12 and a container used for different illegal activities were also discovered.
“165 miscreants and squatters on the pedestrian bridges across the state were also dislodged and the bridges cleaned up. Just about 24 hours ago, the operatives carried out an operation that unearthed a major illegal housing settlement constructed under the Dolphin Bridge Ikoyi.”
According to the commissioner, “In a renewed step to ensure safety of lives of residents, the operatives of Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI/LAGESC, in line with the provisions of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Management law renewed the enforcement of the use of pedestrian bridges.
“At the count, a total number of 1,032 persons were arrested for crossing the highway and failure to use pedestrian bridges.
It could be recalled that as part of the ongoing removal of illegal structures, the state government on Thursday uncovered another set of apartments under a bridge located in the highbrow area of Ikoyi.
Earlier, on Tuesday, Wahab had, in a tweet on his official X handle page, announced the discovery of an apartment under the Dolphin Estate Bridge in Ikoyi where tenants paid N250,000 annual rent.
In the latest tweet on his X handle page on Friday, Wahab announced that the illegal settlement was discovered under Osborne Bridge, Ikoyi.
“Another illegal settlement was discovered under the Osborne Bridge, Ikoyi. Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps @LAGESCOfficial (KAI) commenced an immediate clearance operation,” the commissioner wrote on X.
The state government had earlier dislodged tenants under Dolphins Estate Bridge who paid N250, 000 annually to landlords involved in the nefarious act.
