The Lagos State government on Thursday gave marching orders for the immediate dislodgement of all squatters under the Opebi–Mende bridge.

The commissioner for environment and water resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said this in a statement signed by the ministry’s spokesperson, Kunle Adeshina.

He said the squatters had converted the underbelly of the new, yet-to-be-inaugurated Opebi–Mende bridge into homes and stores.

Mr Wahab also directed security agencies to immediately move in and dislodge all the squatters and their shanties.

The commissioner emphasised that the primary responsibility of every government is the preservation of life and property, and the present administration would not shirk its responsibility in that regard.

He said it is disheartening that a project nearly ready for inauguration has suddenly been taken over by various miscreants and squatters.

Mr Wahab added that even some people from the Cane Village had come to the underbelly of the bridge to create an illegal settlement.

He vowed that the state government would not only dislodge the squatters but also permanently monitor the locations to ensure they would not return.

He warned all the automobile mechanics who had converted the open space adjacent to the bridge to their workshop to immediately relocate to avoid impounding the vehicles.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s special adviser on infrastructure, Olufemi Daramola, while conducting the commissioner and others around, said his office is concerned that if immediate action is not taken, the area might become a slum.

Mr Daramola emphasised that the state had invested humongous resources in erecting the bridge and would not allow undesirable elements to use it as a means of unleashing terror on law-abiding citizens.

(NAN)