The Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources has announced plans to demolish shanties and illegal market structures at the Cele under bridge area on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Lagos.
Commissioner for the Environment, Tokunbo Wahab who made this known during an inspection of the drainage enforcement yesterday, describing the situation as a societal menace.
“Criminal activities were going on. So, we had to deploy our enforcement team to come and do a scope, and the feedback was heart-wrenching for the ministry,” Wahab said.
According to him, the illegal activities extend beyond trading and include the construction of makeshift shanties, which have exacerbated environmental and safety concerns.
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He said the waste generated by these activities is also being dumped into the major canal System 6C in the area, causing continuous blockages of the drainage system.
“Nobody is saying you can’t have your markets. Your markets are for designated places and areas. When you have your market, shanties, or stores built on the drainage or on parts of a channel like System 6C, you leave us with no other option than to tell you to remove everything,”
Wahab said notices had been served to the affected traders, and engagements are ongoing to ensure compliance.
“They have served a notice since last week, so they will do an engagement with them in the next few hours, and hopefully by the weekend they should be able to move,” he added.
Highlighting the impact of human activities on the drainage, Wahab emphasised that clearing them would be futile if the dumping of waste continued.
“Even if we clean it up every day and they still go in, dump their waste, and behave badly every day, it’s just so bad.” he lamented.