The Lagos State Task Force has carried out a follow-up eviction operation and also served a five-day ultimatum on squatters and suspected miscreants around Lekki Coastal Road and Marwa Gardens.

This is contained in a statement on Wednesday by the spokesperson for the task force, Abdulraheem Gbadeyan.

Mr Gbadeyan said the chairman of the agency, CSP Shola Jejeloye, in the early hours of Tuesday, led the enforcement, which lasted about five hours.

Mr Jejeloye said the agency had visited the axis several times, but the settlers were adamant and kept returning to sites they were evicted from.

“The exercise is also necessary to frustrate criminal activities in the area,” he said.

Mr Jejeloye appealed to owners of structures erected illegally along the axis to remove them before the expiration of the five-day ultimatum.

“There are car repair outlets, brothels, viewing centres and kiosks, all erected illegally and haphazardly along the dedicated routes for the construction of the road, and we have served them all the five-day notice to vacate the area or risk having their property brought down by the bulldozer,” he said.

He said the notice was a follow-up to previous ones in addition to warnings to the squatters.

In another development, the task force also served removal/eviction notices to kiosks and makeshift shop owners along the Fagba railway crossing, posing a danger to themselves and passengers.

The task force chairman who led the operation said the activities of the petty traders posed safety and security risks while also compounding gridlock along the axis.

“These structures erected here have no form of approval whatsoever from the state government.

“Therefore, it is our responsibility to ensure that they are removed and Lagosians are allowed to move freely without any obstruction,” he said.

Mr Jejeloye warned that strict enforcement would begin immediately when the five-day eviction notice elapses.

He warned against trading on rail tracks, saying that the state government was out to restore sanity around the rail tracks and its environs.

(NAN)