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Tag: shanties

  • Lagos to clear shanties off Adeniji Adele bridge Monday

    Lagos to clear shanties off Adeniji Adele bridge Monday

    The Lagos state government will undertake enforcement action to remove over 100 shanties under the Adeniji Adele bridge from tomorrow.

    The commissioner for the environment and water resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the enforcement is coming after the 48 hours removal notice served occupants expired.

    According to the commissioner, operatives of the Kick against Indiscipline (KAI/LAGESC) and officials from the Monitoring Enforcement and Compliance (MEC) department of the ministry will be given security back up to conduct the operation.

    Read Also: Mende Villa: residents served demolition notices twice, says Wahab

    Wahab emphasised that the exercise is part of the government’s effort to reclaim all ungoverned spaces in the metropolis.

    According to him, unsightly shanties which dot the city represents a distorted image of what a smart city like Lagos should not be, and serve as hiding places for criminals.

  • Lagos begins removal of shanties, illegal structures

    Lagos begins removal of shanties, illegal structures

    Owners of shanties on setbacks and right of way on the Blue Rail line corridor from Orile to Iyana Iba have seven days to move backwards or relocate.

    The commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, gave the ultimatum when he supervised the removal of shanties and illegal structures on government setbacks and right of way along the Lagos/Badagry Expressway.

    He said it was expedient to ensure a complete restoration of the right of way.

    Wahab, who was accompanied by chairman of the Special Intervention Team for the restoration of the Blue line Right of Way, ACP Bayo Sulaiman, stressed that the Lagos/Badagry Expressway is an international highway and the set back must not be infringed upon.

    The commissioner said the enforcement becomes imperative following the expiration of the one month notice given by Mr Governor to street traders, squatters, as well as occupiers of shanties and abandoned vehicles on the Lagos/ Badagry Expressway.

    Read Also: Team clears shanties, illegal structures

    Wahab, who particularly mentioned the illegal settlement at Agboju, where squatters have built shanties on government setbacks, said the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK) will take over the beautification and landscaping once the squatters have been ejected.

    He stressed that the right of way for the Lagos Badagry Expressway stands between 90 to 120 meters, ‘therefore, any structure that falls between will not be allowed to stand,’ he added.

    “The Special Intervention Team is cleaning up the Lagos/Badagry expressway to rid it off all environmental nuisances and black spots. The exercise will be sustained to ensure ejected squatters do not return to rebuild these shanties.

    “Let me also warn that every part of the state will be cleared of illegal shanties, so street traders and squatters should relocate, especially those at the Afolabi Ege Market in Iyana Iba. They have seven days to do this because they cause traffic bottlenecks along the axis.”

    Wahab was also accompanied by Permanent Secretary (Office of Environmental Services), Dr. Gaji Omobolaji, his counterpart in the Office of Drainage Services, Engr. Lekan Shodeinde and LASPARK General Manager, Mrs. Toun Popoola.

  • Team clears shanties, illegal structures

    Team clears shanties, illegal structures

    Lagos State has begun clearing, removal of make-shift shops and squatters on Lagos Badagry Expressway.

    The state set up Special Intervention Team (SIT), comprising officials of ministries of Works and Infrastructure, Transportation, as well as Police, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority ( LASTMA) and other agencies.

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    Area Commander of Area F, Ikeja, Bayo Sulaiman, led the team, who cleared debris along Iganmu end of the road.

     Director of Operations at Transportation, Olasunkanmi Ojo-Owuro, said the exercise was in line with Sanwo-Olu’s vision to boost urban cleanliness. He said the government would not allow the huge investment in the sector to be vandalised.

    On sustainability of the exercise, the director explained its mandate was in two phases: removal and clearance as well as monitoring.

  • 74 arrested as task force demolishes shanties

    The Lagos State Government has begun the demolition of illegal structures, shanties and containerised shops in Obalende to facilitate free flow of drains and canals.

    Seventy-four persons were arrested during the exercise for smoking and selling drugs.

    A statement by the State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit (Task Force) said the 48 hours abatement notice served on the traders/occupiers the structures expired on Thursday.

    The government, he said, gave them another 48 hours grace to move before the demolition began.

    The statement said the activities of the traders, mechanics and people living around the fly-over was an eye-sore. They all dump refuse and used tyres into the canals and drains said the statement signed by the task force chairmen, Olayinka Egbeyemi, a Superintendent of Police (SP).

    Egbeyemi said over 120 illegal structures, shanties and containerised shops had so far been demolished; 20 vehicles abandoned under the fly-over were removed.

    He said those arrested would be screened before being taken to court.

    A man Mr Sunday Eze said he has been staying under the Obalende fly-over for over 17 years with his family.

    “I am 70 years of age and I have been living with my wife and three children under Obalende bridge since I left Abia State over 17 years ago”

    Eze, who said he did not have any relative in Lagos, hailed the government for giving him the grace to remove his properties before the demolition.

    A trader, Alhaja Bilikisu Adigun, said she had been trading and living inside a containerised shop under Obalende fly-over with her husband for over 23 years.

  • Govt demolishes shanties at Oko Oba Abattoir

    Lagos State Government has started removing shanties at Oko Oba abattoir to improve its hygienic condition.
    Commissioner for Agriculture Oluwatoyin Suarau said the exercise was not a ploy to chase anyone away from the place.
    “The Lagos State Government is not planning to chase away anybody from the state, as being rumoured by some butchers and cow merchants. I want us all to see this administration’s initiatives as a way of sanitising and ensuring hygiene in the Red Meat Value Chain; we should not see this project as a government instrument to disrupt the activities of the market,” he said.
    Suarau said the exercise was in collaboration with the Lagos State Task Force Team, adding that the present administration is committed to its all-inclusive system of governance.
    The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Olayiwole Onasanya, restated the administration’s commitment to the attainment of food security with the aid of the citizenry.
    “Food security and hygienic environment are in the front burner of this administration to facilitate job and wealth creation as well as poverty reduction,” he said.

  • Lagos: Tears as bulldozer dismantle illegal structures along rail tracks

    Lagos: Tears as bulldozer dismantle illegal structures along rail tracks

    Occupants of the shanties along railway lines between Ilupeju bypass to Yaba axis of Lagos State, broke down in tears on Friday when a bulldozer ripped through their structures and destroyed goods and properties worth millions of Naira.

    No fewer than five churches, three mosques and two preparatory schools were reduced to rubbles in the demolition carried out by the NRC to clear the rail track for the Federal Government Railway Modernisation Project.

    The distraught occupants of the structures complained that the corporation did not give them enough time to remove their properties and relocate before the demolition.

    The demolition started at 8 a.m when many of the traders were yet to open for business. The operation was led by the chairman of NRC Committee for Removal of Illegal Structures, Mr Anthony Ochuko Onyokoko.

    More than 2,000 shanties were demolished in the operation.

    The Nation gathered that the occupants got a notice to vacate the shanties on Thursday, less than 24 hours before the exercise was to be carried out.

    It was gathered that the NRC officials were in the area on Thursday to mark the structures for demolition.

    It took many of the traders by surprise when the NRC officials led a contingent of riot policemen to carry out the demolition.

    Some of the affected occupants and traders could not be consoled as they counted their losses.

    Mrs Kabirat Adeniji, 48, who operated a wholesale liquor trader rolled on the floor as her three shops were brought down.

    She said she had recently stocked her shops with goods worth N500,000.

    Mrs Adeniji, who said she rented the three shops 18 years ago, said: “These people (NRC officials) have finished me. There is nothing my children and I will eat again. As you can see, my source of livelihood has just been destroyed by the Railway Corporation. I don’t know where to start again. As I am talking to you, I don’t have anything again.”

    The Imam in charge of Orire Mosque which was also demolished, Alhaji Abdulazeez Ajetunmobi, said the mosque was built on the approval of the NRC.

    “This mosque was built in 1963 and there was no prior notice for the demolition. We only saw the NRC officials yesterday (Thursday) marking buildings for demolition. We were not told the demolition would be carried out today (yesterday), so that we could start relocating the mosque’s properties. Last month, we spent N2.5 million to renovate the mosque and carry out capital projects. Everything is gone now, ‘’ lamented the 54-year-old Muslim cleric.

    Coordinator of a Pentecostal church’s Sunday School, which was also demolished, Mr Israel Komolafe, said the exercise took the church by surprise.

    He said the church had been occupying the space for 16 years and had been paying monthly rent to NRC officials. He said the corporation did not give notice to vacate the space.

    The affected traders said it was wrong for NRC not to give them time to relocate after its officials collected monthly rent from them. They said the NRC’s Station Manager in Mushin, whose name was identified as Mr Ojo, collected the undocumented rent in cash on behalf of the corporation.

    Mrs Pelumi Aluko, a hairdresser, said she paid N2,000 as rent on Thursday, wondering why the occupants were not notified of the demolition before they paid the rents.

    In protest, some of the traders besieged the Mushin station of the NRC to get back the rents paid to Ojo, who allegedly ran away on sighting the crowd.

    Arguments ensued between the NRC officials and a septuagenarian, Pa Madamidola Aremu, whose property, leased to a Cherubim and Seraphim Church, was marked down for demolition. Aremu, who claimed to have Queen’s Conveyance approving the perimeter of the property, accused NRC of encroachment on his property. He threatened to sue the corporation if the property is demolished.

    Prophet Eri Atobatele whose Cherubim and Seraphim (Ijo Temidire) church was also marked for demolition said he paid N275,000 to rent the property six month ago.

    Reacting, Onyokoko dismissed the claims that enough time was not given the occupants to vacate the structures and relocate their properties.

    He said the corporation had issued quit notice to the occupants three times in the last three years, adding that the notice for the yesterday’s demolition was issued two months ago.

    Onyokoko said the demolition was to clear the rail track ahead of the commencement of the modern rail project of the government.

    He said none of the shanties built on the rail track was approved by the corporation, dismissing claims that NRC collected rent from the occupants.

    He said: “We are starting a standard rail project from Lagos to Ibadan and the only way to make the project successful is to clear railway’s corridors of illegal structures. We have continually reminded them the railway corridor will be cleared.

    “The modernisation project will start next week. We gave the occupants notice of three months. We announced on radio and newspaper. So, they are all aware of what is going on now. That is why they are not resisting our officials from carrying out the demolition. The government’s railway modernisation project is for public good. Over time, the illegal structures’ occupants were served notices of demolition. They thought we would not come for the demolition as promised.

    On whether NRC is aware of the rent collected from the occupants, Onyokoko said: “We are not aware of any rent paid by the occupants of the illegal structures. To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing like that. If the employees in the lower cadre collect rents and it is not brought to our notice, we cannot know. Why did they not complain before now that somebody was collecting money from them? If any money is paid by anyone, it is to keep them to illegally occupy railway land.”

  • Lagos to remove shanties at Oko Oba Abattoir

    Lagos to remove shanties at Oko Oba Abattoir

    Lagos State Government is set to remove all shanties at Oko Oba abattoir to ensure a hygienic condition.
    At an interactive session with the butchers and other stakeholders of the abattoir on Monday, Commissioner for Agriculture Oluwatoyin Suarau urged the stake holders to support government’s bid to upgrade the market.
    “I want us all to see this gathering as a family meeting and we should not see this project as a government instrument to disrupt the activities of the market,” he said.
    Suarau said the removal of the shanties will commence any time from the moment and all occupants should evacuate their valuables and move to the lairage temporarily for their activities pending the completion of the project.
    The commissioner said the upgrading will be at the advantage of the abattoir operators and Lagosians at large as the proposed project will usher in a mega city equipped abattoir with a stand by clinic within the complex which can take care of the health of workers and other emergencies in the abattoir and also a mini market which will cater for some basic needs.
    “As we speak, the government has completed the fencing of the abattoir and the heap of refuse which has existed for several years has been cleared. The beautification of the entrance and surroundings of the abattoir has also commenced,” he said.
    Suarau reiterated the commitment of the government to all-inclusive system of governance. He urged the stakeholders to key into the project and point out miscreants and illegal inhabitant of the abattoir is required in restoring sanity to the market.
    The Serikin Hausawa of Agege, Alhaji Musa Muhammadu Dogonkadai, hailed the state governments for carrying them along in the developmental projects on going in the state.
    He assured the government of his people’s support.

  • NGO, residents worry over waterfront shanties

    The efforts of the Lagos State government to upgrade or develop slums have received applause from concerned stakeholders. And as the state gets set to enter into its full mega city status, shanties or slums obviously have no place in its scheme.

    However, the government’s bold effort  may be inhibited given the new shanties emerging around some urban settlements along the state’s waterfront communities, especially in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state.

    Worried by the developing trend, a civil society organisation, “Safe Habitat,” has drawn the attention of the public to the environmental menace being constituted by occupants of these shanties, especially the criminal attacks against residents of Lekki, Ikoyi, Victoria Island and others.

    Besides, the group warns that given the security challenge facing the nation, the situation becomes more worrisome. For instance, at some point, the country’s security apparatus was said to have warned the public to be vigilant as Boko Haram fighters and their symphatisers were planning attacks on cities like Lagos, Rivers and Kwara states.

    Safe Habitat is concerned that the rate at which aliens from neighbouring countries and criminals fleeing from other parts of the country are flocking to Lagos, and creating illegal settlements in some riverine communities across the state, calls for greater attention.

    One factor that has been blamed for this influx is the dearth of artisans and masons in the Nigerians construction industry. This has led to developers resorting to engaging this category of workers from the neighbouring countries.

    The group, which focuses on environmental safety, in a statement by its Executive Director, Ade Williams, said the earlier government and other stakeholders take decisive action against such settlements and shanties, the better for the environment, lawful residents and business development of the area and the state as a whole.

    “We recall that some concerned residents of Eti Osa had written a petition complaining of the incessant harassment, nuisance and robbery perpetrated by the occupants of the shanties at Ebute-Ikate, Elegushi. Following that, the Ikate Elegushi Residents Association also wrote another petition to the Lagos State Task Force, Alausa, Ikeja, to further complain about the unwholesome activities of the occupants of the shanties in the same community,” Williams said.

    The state government, perhaps in continuation of its urban renewal programme or acting on the petition by the Residents Association, had carried out the demolition of shanties and illegal structures, both in the Victoria Island and Ikoyi. Among the illegal settlements affected was a community earlier known as “Ebute-Ikate”, but later christened “Otodo-Gbame”, a name some associated with Togo or Benin Republic origin, when the illegal settlers came to the community.

    A community leader, Chief Abdualhi Ajibola, explained that while the ‘settlers in the shanties’ have since gone to court, he is happy that the government has taken the best step by restoring sanity to the area.

    He recalled that sometimes in September 2014, a fight broke out at the shanties at Ebute Ikate, Ikateland between rival groups of Delta/Eastern extraction on the one hand and their Egun counterpart.

    An environmentalist, Tajudeen Osho, is worried that these settlers, mainly young and able bodied men, do not speak either English or pidgin, while some who speak Hausa may not really be people of northern extinction.

    “But fact remains that they cohabit with Hausas, in the markets and Sabo areas. They come to Lagos in their hundreds on monthly if not weekly basis, without any means of accommodation, employment, or sustenance and within few weeks,  many of them will be mixing freely in the neighbourhoods without anybody asking questions.

     

  • 100 shanties gone at Oko-Oba abbattoir

    100 shanties gone at Oko-Oba abbattoir

    The Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit has demolished over 100 shanties at Oko-Oba Abattoir reportedly used as criminal hide-out.

    The exercise followed the inauguration of the Monitoring, Enforcement and Compliance Unit on seizure of stray animals, monitoring of meat transportation and regulation of veterinarypremises by Agriculture Commisioner Oluwatoyin Suarau.

    Suarau said the unit’s establishment follow the government’s promise to develop the red meat value chain, restructure and sanitise abattoirs and slaughter slabs for improved operation and promote healthy environment, which have been reported to be harbouring miscreants and causing insecurity in the area.

    The government, he said, would ensure that products from abattoirs and slaughter slabs met global quality, safety and compliance requirements.

    “The responsibilities of the unit will include monitoring of abattoirs and slaughter slabs in the state, dislodgement of illegal ones, monitoring and enforcing laws on transportation of meat and live cattle,  control of stray animals and mobilisation and enlightenment of private veterinary premises in the state,” he said.

    Suarau said the unit would prevent the spread of diseases, promote data collection for planning and good animal welfare as well as make Lagos a safe place.

    He said there was no room for illegal slaughter slabs in the state, adding that the use of the frontage of food centres as slaughter slabs was also not acceptable.

    The commissioner said owners of stray animals would be prosecuted as the government would no longer allow the menace to continue.

    “Apart from causing accidents on our roads, these stray animals could also spread contagious diseases such as anthrax, rabies, tuberculosis and other ailments that could lead to death,” Suarau said.

  • Let the shanties go!

    Demolition of shanties and illegal structures in Nigeria is not entirely new.  Over the years, state governments that saw the need to destroy shanties in order to pave way for more modern and better organized cities have had to do so.  Recently, the Lagos State government embarked on such exercise where it destroyed shanty-settlements and waterfronts in some parts of the state.  The reason for this exercise, in the reckoning of government, was clear. Apart from the menace and eyesore which the shanties constituted to the state and the environment, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde made it clear that the law is against such settlements.  He said: “The state’s Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010, prohibits erecting structures within the Right of Ways and the set-backs of drainage channels, centre-line of overheard electricity wires”.  He also stated in very clear terms specified distance to be observed between a property line and a public utility.

    Even though residents have a right to be protected and provided for by the government, where the need arises, it is imperative also for the same government to work out an environment that is essentially conducive for all.  Part of the protests by those affected by the demolition was that they had no other places to go to.  They argued as they stormed Alausa, Ikeja, the seat of government, that given the economic and social situations in Nigeria today, it was somewhat in human for government to render them homeless.

    Be that as it may, they did not and could not see themselves as constituting any security or environmental menace to the society.  In other words, they feared that this development would further push or force them into various kinds of crime.  With the level of unemployment in its very critical stage at the moment and in a situation where economic recession holds sway, their fear may not be unfounded.  However, what is good is worth doing well so that the decency of man and the guarantee of his safety should remain top priority of the government in power.

    All over the world, shanties are usually dismantled to establish and develop new cities in conformity with civilization.  If a city wants to be up to date in its planning and provision of modern facilities to suit its growing population, some unwanted structures have to go to give way.  Lagos State being the way it is where people flock into the state in leaps and bounds, illegal structures constitute more security hazards.  Apart from becoming too much for the security agencies to handle in terms of combating crime in such places, they gradually become havens for hemp smokers, kidnappers and so on.

    Most places in the world where government looked the other way while such illegal structures and settlements blossomed are suffering it today.  Rio, the commercial nerve of Brazil today harbours one of the most notorious and dreaded ghettos in the world.  It is so, because at its inception, the government of Brazil did not muster the necessary political will to nip it in the bud.  Consequently, the settlement has remained as government onto itself where gangsters, criminals and drug barons and peddlers hobnob in a free environment.

    This is part of what the Lagos State government intends to avoid.  And the best time to do it is now, given that cases of kidnapping, rape, pipeline vandalism, child trafficking and more have been on the rise.  Therefore, no reasonable government, no sensible leader with a team that is thoroughly concerned for the well-being of its citizens, would fold its hands while the state goes awry.  If this was part of the mistakes the past, Governor Akinwumi Ambode is now saying that this is the time to act to remedy it.  Naturally, in correcting the errors of the past, a few things that are not in their proper perspectives would give way.  Illegal structures, ghettos that are at variance with humanity have to go.  They have to go because the society has to move on to the next level.

    Civilization, modernity, good and conducive environment fit for human habitation do not come with half-measures, or where government cannot wake up and say it is now time to grow the societies.  Someone who built his house under high tension wires which naturally is unsafe for him cannot be said to be living a normal life.  Someone who has his house or shanty hanging on top of a lagoon cannot be said to be alive.  And where government shows concern, it is imperative for those involved to cool down and see how their situations can be made better.  They must look for a way forward.

    The argument that government should try to resettle them may be tenable.  But first of all those involved have to appreciate the fact that the action taken so far is for their good.  Government is right in ensuring that decency obtains in the state.  Government is equally in order when it says people should desist from building on Right of Ways, set-backs and drainage channels.

    However, it is equally the responsibility of government to ensure that its citizen do not suffer undue socio-economic hardship.  This is why it advisable for the state to engage those affected to see how to ameliorate their plight.  When this is done, those of them who had hitherto set their minds on crime will think twice.  If they are duly occupied and rehabilitated, the state will be better for it.  In as much as the state wants to beautify its environment it should also avoid creating avenues for more or new criminals to emerge.

    Henceforth, government has the sole responsibility of ensuring that no new shanties of any kind spring up in the state.  It is usually more instructive to prevent this sort of development at its embryonic stage so that situations of protests and emotive displays of sympathy do not arise.  Those responsible for regional or urban planning should not look the other way when people are erecting illegal structures.  Where they did so, appropriate punishments should be meted out to them by the state government as a deterrent.  It is only in implementing state policies in their time and season that decency can be restored and maintained.

    Ambode has to bring to the notice of urban planners and supervisors that it is no more business as usual.  This is the time to be up and doing; time to ensure decent development to meet the exigencies of the modern times.