LASG to commence vacation enforcement on Lekki shanty dwellers on Friday

The Lagos State Government (LASG) has said it has given shanties dwellers and squatters around the Lagos Coastal Road in Mayegun, in the Lekki area of the state till Thursday, 7th March, 2024, to vacate, as it would commence enforcement to quit by Friday, 8th March 2024.

The State Government on Sunday issued a four-day relocation notice to all squatters occupying illegal shanties around the Lagos Coastal Road in Mayegun, in the Lekki area of the state.

Declaring the development after an inspection tour to Jakande, Elegushi Itedo, System 156 and 44 on Orchid Road, the state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said all such shanties and squatters, close to regional road alignment must vacate the area by Thursday afternoon as enforcement would commence in the early hours of Friday.

A statement on Sunday quoted the commissioner as saying that the tour was important in order to ensure that the coastal alignment of the aforementioned areas were secured and illegal settlements along the corridors were removed.

Wahab stressed that by next week the spots will be cleared with the Lagos State Building Control Agency involved in the proper regeneration of the area.

“The government has cleared Ijora under bridge, Obalende under bridge, Apongbon under bridge, Agege Red Line rail, amongst others. I would like to say that most of these places cleaned up are notorious sites that harbour criminals and as such they are threats to residents. The clean-up exercise would be  sustained to ensure that ejected squatters do not return to rebuild these shanties,” he added.

The Commissioner further stated that enforcement would commence this week on System 157 (Orchid Road) to open the 40 metres drainage adding that this became necessary as people have built on the canal path and narrowed the primary channel, thereby causing flooding in the area.

He said the government had convened several stakeholders’ meetings with property owners and the affected residents who were served contravention notices in the last quarter of 2023, but no commitment had been seen from the affected community members.

The team also visited Ilubirin to ascertain the level of the ongoing project to install an underground tank to deflood Lagos Island, a project that was awarded three years ago, with a confirmation from the contractor that the project would be delivered in 90 days

“Ilubirin is strategic because the government is set to regenerate Isale Eko and environs and in order to do that, there is need to get the outflow of water through the Ilubirin path,” he said.