Illegal occupants appoint Iyaloja, Babaloja under Lagos bridges

– Most of the illegal occupants hail from Oyo, Osun —LAGESC

SOME of the people living illegally under the Eko Bridge in the Ebute-Ero area of Lagos Island who were recently ejected by operatives of the Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) are yet to vacate the place, investigation by Saturday Tribune has revealed.

Many of the people have refused to relocate weeks after their forced eviction. They are carrying on with life under the bridge albeit without re-erecting their demolished shanties.

When the LAGESC spokesman, Lukman Ajayi, was asked about the illegal traders, he said the task force would be visiting again to root them out, noting that they had grown so bold to the extent of appointing market leaders known as the Iyaloja and the Babaloja.

Ajayi affirmed the readiness of the agency to sustain the cleansing exercise and ensure that Lagos State is rid of shanties.

He said it was surprising that some people were calling themselves Iyaloja and  Babaloja under the Eko Bridge, adding that their stay under the bridge constitutes danger and security risk to the environment.

Ajayi said the people’s stay under the bridge is illegal and they should return to where they came from. According to him, most of them are from neighbouring Oyo and Osun states.

The agency, he said, would mobilise the task force to visit the location again to sustain the exercise. “This exercise is continuous. It’s not business as usual. We are ready to sustain the exercise until Lagos is rid of shanties,” Ajayi said.

Eyewitnesses claimed that the illegal dwellers bathe early in the open under the bridge. A visit by Saturday Tribune revealed that they also cook under the bridge and defecate in the open.

Engineers have established that extreme heat and flooding accelerate the deterioration of bridges, regardless of how well they were built.

In September, the Lagos State government announced the repair of the bridge for 18 weeks, starting from the 16th. The multi-million naira project, according to the timeline, is still on.

Apart from the dismantled shanties, whose rubble was still visible when Saturday Tribune visited, the evictees were seen loitering around. Following the visit and enquiries, LAGESC, speaking through its image maker, Ajayi, said it was monitoring the place.

Some of the evictees that appeared bold enough remained under the bridge and carried on with life. On the day of Saturday Tribune’s visit, some had their clothes spread on a line.

Apart from Ebute Ero, Saturday Tribune also observed that many of the traders still displayed their wares indiscriminately under bridges. During a survey of the area, the traders were seen doing business in the illegal spots without let or hindrance.

It was learnt that those conducting their businesses in the outlawed areas have the backing of some officials of the local government area overseeing the jurisdiction, though Saturday Tribune could not verify the claim.

Angry, aggressive

One unmistaken thing about the evictees when Saturday Tribune visited was their hostility towards ‘strangers’.

In the course of the survey of the different sections of the illegal accommodation, it was noticed that some sections had also been converted to motor parks, workshops and hang-outs for miscreants.

The visibly angry evictees refused to speak with Saturday Tribune reporter when approached, but the reporter was close enough to see some who were sleeping under the bridge, one of whom lit a amp gas cylinder to prepare food.

To know more about the adamant evictees and how they have been coping since the demolition exercise, Saturday Tribune reporter visited a nearby restaurant located beside the bridge, bought a can of soft drink and then seized the opportunity to speak with the female bar tender.

The lady, who did not want her name published, said most of the evictees engaged in carrying loads for people for a fee for livelihood. She said most of them worked in Ebute Ero and Idumota markets and couldn’t afford rent, hence the decision to make under the bridge their home.

Besides, she said many of them could not afford transportation fare to Oyingbo and Ido areas daily due to their poor earnings.

“They can’t afford rent and they don’t have anywhere to go. To them, it does not matter where they sleep inasmuch as they make little money to feed,” she said.

Another respondent, Mr Kamoru, said the evictees cooked, bathed and engaged in open defecation in the vicinity.

Rather than throw them into the cold and harsh weather due to the current economic hardship, Jamie said the government should have provided alternative accommodation for such category of people.

*Makeshift toilets

Lagos State penultimate Monday dismantled 54 illegal shanties and evicted 84 occupants from under Eko Bridge in the Ebute-Ero area.

The operation, led by LAGESC, also involved the removal of eight makeshift toilets, which were identified as key contributors to open defecation and unsanitary conditions in the area.

The operation was disclosed by Major Olaniyi Olatunbosun Cole (rtd), the Corps Marshal of LAGESC, in a statement posted on the agency’s official X account.

“In consolidation of existing efforts aimed at reducing the spate of environmental nuisances to the barest minimum in the metropolis, the Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) popularly known as KAI effected the removal of 54 illegal shanties which harboured 84 illegal occupants and eight make-shift toilets beneath Eko Bridge at the Ebute-Ero area of the state on Monday,” the statement read in part.

Cole stated that the Elegbeta Water Channel beneath the Eko Bridge had become a settlement for miscreants and illegal occupants, raising serious environmental and security concerns.

The area was marked by indiscriminate refuse dumping into the lagoon, its use as a criminal hideout and widespread open defecation.

The operation was deemed essential to tackle the issues and restore order and cleanliness to the area.

The state government also said it had stepped up efforts to remove illegal shanties and dislodge occupants of makeshift structures, reaffirming its commitment to addressing environmental nuisances throughout the metropolis.

The recent demolition of 54 shanties beneath the Eko Bridge, government said, was part of a larger effort to address illegal settlements under major bridges across Lagos.

Like Dolphin like Ebute-Ero

In May, the authorities also dismantled 86 makeshift apartments beneath the Dolphin Estate Bridge in Ikoyi where tenants allegedly paid as much as N250,000 annually for a single room. Similar actions have been carried out in other locations, including the Ijora Causeway Bridge, Blue Line Overhead Bridge, National Stadium Bridge, and Osborne Bridge, highlighting government’s determination to address these issues on a broader scale.

Following the discovery and the demolition exercise, a section of the public wanted the government to engage dwellers of illegal accommodation in dialogue and negotiation.

“What we are saying is that whoever is a squatter still has rights all over the world. You give them notice and there are legal ways to get squatters out of the perceived location. It is not a criminal act,” a respondent said.

Worries over Third Mainland

Before now, Minister of Work, David Umahi, had raised the alarm over the state of Carter Bridge, Third Mainland Bridge and Eko Bridge, the three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the Mainland.

Umahi said the dilapidating conditions of these bridges reportedly due to poor maintenance culture have been generating concerns.

Despite the rehabilitation of the Third Mainland Bridge recently, discoveries about its sub-structure underwater and those of Carter and Marina bridges are said to be alarming.

Umahi subsequently directed the Federal Ministry of Works’ Design Department to immediately launch a project to assess the structural integrity of all the bridges in Lagos and across Nigeria amid concerns over their deteriorating conditions.

Umahi, in company with the National Assembly members, expressed disappointment at the extent of damage from carbonisation and chlorination affecting the pile caps of the bridges.

He explained that each pile cap must be isolated from water and reinforced to prevent further chlorination, a process where chloride absorption compromises the reinforcing rods within the concrete.

“Chlorination involves chloride water absorption by the pile cap, which attacks the reinforcing rods. If not addressed urgently, the internal reinforcement will corrode, risking pile cap failure.

“Further assessments revealed that some piles had detached from their caps or lost contact with the underlying sand, essential for stability through skin friction. Over time, underwater currents, scouring, and illegal sand mining have exacerbated these issues” the minister said.

“As we were coming, we saw also a very terrible situation like that of Third Mainland Bridge on the Marina Bridge. So, I will be directing the Ministry of Work’s Design Department to immediately procure a project to understudy all the bridges in Lagos. Let us see what is happening even on deck and then the super structures.  Phase two will be to understudy what is going on within the piles but we can see that the Marina Bridge is also as bad as what we inherited in Third Mainland Bridge,” the minister added.

No love from Abuja

In 2022, the Federal Government issued 30-day ultimatum to illegal occupants comprising traders, auto mechanics, transporters and vulcanizers under Eko Bridge, Carter and Obalende flyovers in Lagos State to relocate.

Then Minister of Works, Mr Babatunde Fashola, warned about the danger of turning the under-bridge to motor parks, residence and workshops.

The decision to evacuate the traders and mechanics was not unconnected with the damage done to Apongbon Bridge in Lagos Island as a result of fire outbreak from those trading under the bridge.

Ajayi said LAGESC would be unrelenting in its commitment to ensuring sanity in the metropolis while encouraging those who have no stable accommodation to relocate to their states of origin.

The Lagos State government is yet to signal the possibility of deporting the homeless who create shanties under major bridges in the state.

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