……Gives 24hrs marching order to fuel/diesel sellers under the bridge
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Lagos State Government on Sunday gave a five days quit notice to different squatters under the Ijora Causeway bridge and Lagos Blue rail Line over head bridge in Ijora to remove all their shanties for constituting a danger to the Lagos Blue Line corridor or risk demolition and removal.
This was made known in a release signed by the director of Public Affairs, MOE&WR, Kunle Adeshina
The quit notice was given by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources Tokunbo Wahab when he led a high powered team that included the Chairman, Special Intervention Squad on the Restoration of the Lagos Badagry Rail Corridor Clean-Up, ACP BAYO Sulaiman and Special Adviser on the Environment, Kunle ROTIMI-Akodu on an inspection of the Ijora and the under bridge.
Wahab who lamented the security risk that the occupation of the underneath of the blue rail line bridge by mini buses, block moulders, fuel sellers and miscreants posed to the safe operation of the blue rail line service, said government will not allow this to continue.
The Commissioner stated that the State Task Force on Special Offences will take full possession of the whole expanse of land under the Ijora Causeway Bridge and would be sustained by the State Government.
He also gave a 24 hours quit notice to all those selling petroleum products under the Ijora Bridge to move all their trucks and containers or risk confiscation, adding that they posed enormous dangers to the infrastructure and human presence in the area.
He reiterated that no form of enforcement must be carried against distributors and sellers of styrofoam products until the expiration of the three weeks moratorium granted them.
He maintained that the three weeks window will allow all producers and distributors to mop up all the stock they have before the enforcement of the ban takes effect.
The Environment team was also at the Park View Estate in Ikoyi where a secondary collector has been infringed upon from the upstream by building across and fencing it off.
He directed the Drainage Enforcement and Compliance Department to serve proper notices to all the property owners asking them to give unfettered access to the state to monitor its secondary collectors and remove any impediments if any.
Wahab said monitoring and enforcement of the laws on the environment will be an everyday affair and this explains why the ministry has picked up from where it stopped last year.
The delegation also included the Permanent Secretaries, Office of Drainage Services, ENGR Lekan Shodeinde, Environmental Services, GAJI Omobolaji, Managing director, Lagos Waste Management Authority, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, GM LASEPA, Dr Tunde Ajayi, GM LASPARK, Mrs Toun Popoola, Managing director LASAA, Prince Fatiu Akiolu, Corps Marshal KAI, Mrs Gbemi AKINPELU and other directors in the ministry.
