Apartments under Lagos bridges

WITHIN the space of a few days, officials of the Lagos State Government “discovered” two residential setups tucked under the flyover bridges in the Ikoyi foreshore axis. One was found under Dolphin Estate Bridge while the other was located at Osborne Bridge.

According to a well-circulated social media post by the state’s Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab: “Another illegal settlement was discovered under Osborne Bridge, Ikoyi. Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps #LAGESCOfficial, KAI, commenced immediate clearance operation”.


When the issue of ungoverned spaces and the security problems they pose is brought up, the tendency is for people’s minds to drift in the direction of the forests and farmlands where armed outlaws have settled in to terrorise the people. This “discovery” in Lagos simply shows that even in our major urban areas such as the Lagos City-State which serves as the nation’s primary melting pot and economic capital, there exist large swathes of ungoverned spaces.



It is seriously perturbing that people will summon the gumption to erect an 86-room dwelling under a bridge and collect up to N250,000 per room in rents! No one knows for how long this eyesore went on before a Mobile Police officer on a jogging exercise “discovered” it and notified the authorities. How can this even start without the Lagos State Government, the local government, the elected representatives and members of the community knowing about it?


That it was allowed at all means that some influential local chieftains must be involved. We wait to see how far the state government will go in its avowed resolve to track down those behind them.

In truth, the “discoveries” at the Lagos Osborne foreshore area is not an isolated phenomenon. There is hardly any bridge in Lagos that is free of illegal occupancy. Some serve as residential areas, markets, motor parks, social joints, truckers’ settlements, brothels and what have you. These are also the den of thieves, drug dealers, cultists, ritualists and potential abodes of terrorist sleeper cells.

In other words, just as the ungoverned spaces in the bushes provide covers for jihadist terrorists, bandits and land-grabbing armed herdsmen, the undersides of bridges in Lagos and other major urban centres are allowed to provide hideouts for undesirable elements who can threaten the safety of law-abiding citizens at will.


It is sad that this is happening in spite of the existence of the numerous Federal and State security agencies such as the Police, State Security Service, SSS; National Intelligence Agency, NIA; Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC; and various Lagos State agencies, particularly the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps, LNSC.

No serious country allows residential or commercial activities under its bridges. They not only endanger the people; they also compromise the bridges. Our under bridges must be cleared.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/05/apartments-under-lagos-bridges/

Awọn I must leave in Lagos

You never see anything, there's almost 500 room self.apartment under Sango bridge