Under Bridge Tenants: Lagos Assures Residents Of Safety

Lagos State government has assured its residents of their safety, saying the statewide exercise to free Lagos of visible security risks has continued after the arrest of some suspects under the Dolphin Estate Bridge.

The state government in a statement by its commissioner for information and strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, said ‘’The ceaseless influx of miscreants, beggars and the destitute onto Lagos streets has raised fears of insecurity of life and property. This is unacceptable.

‘’As part of the exercise, 450 miscreants were rescued at the weekend. Of the lot, 371 pleaded for assistance to relocate to their various states due to the hardship they are facing in Lagos; 79 have been absorbed into some government facilities for rehabilitation after showing signs of being unwell.
‘’The exercise will continue as part of the government’s responsibility to keep our citizens safe and secure,’’ he said.

The state government had on Thursday last week discovered some apartments under the Dolphin Estate Bridge in the Ikoyi area where tenants pay N250,000 annual rent in the 86 partitioned rooms with 10×10 and 12×10 sizes.

Throwing light on the incident, the state’s commissioner for the environment and water resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the government had launched a manhunt for illegal landlords, assuring that they would be prosecuted when apprehended.

Wahab said, “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 last count, a total number of 1,032 persons were arrested for crossing the highway and failure to use pedestrian bridges.

“A total of 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.