Lagos‘ll not extend quite notice to traders under Apongbon bridge – Sanwo-Olu

The Lagos State Government’s seven-day ultimatum issued to occupiers of open stalls under the razed section of Eko Bridge at Oke Arin Market in Apongbon will not be extended, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu warned on Monday.

The Governor said all illegal traders under the damaged bridge have till Wednesday (next two days) – the day the ultimatum will lapse – to vacate the site and remove their belongings, after which Environmental Taskforce officers will move in to clear wreckage left under the bridge, following the last Wednesday fire outbreak allegedly caused by inflammables stored under the bridge.

Sanwo-Olu was on the site of the inferno at Apogbon area alongside his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, and cabinet members, for an on-the-spot assessment of the level of damage on the 48-year-old infrastructure.

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Following the fire incident, the Government indefinitely suspended vehicular movement on the affected part of the bridge to allow for safety tests and integrity examinations on the facility.

Five market groups used the open space under the bridge at the Oke Arin section of the Eko bridge for commercial activities. They are Aromoleti Esho market, Shoe and Bag market, Irewolede market, ECOWAS market and Asejere market. The inferno allegedly erupted from the area where wine traders occupied.

On sighting Sanwo-Olu at the site, a crowd of traders affected by the fire incident gathered and made a passionate appeal to the Governor not to shut the market. But their plea met stiff resistance from Sanwo-Olu, who insisted that the traders’ unsafe practices led to the situation that caused the fire outbreak, which wreaked havoc on the busy bridge.

He said: “We have issued a seven-day notice to all illegal occupiers under the bridge. We have gone to see the extent of the destruction in the bridge; it is an unfortunate incident and the situation that caused the fire was a clear indication of how public assets should not be used. I want to reiterate that our ultimatum is still on and Wednesday is the deadline. Anybody that has anything valuable to him must remove it now, because we are starting extensive clearing of the site.

READ ALSO: Apogbon Market inferno:LASG closes Eko Bridge, announces alternative routes

“Between last two years and now, we have had eight fire incidents on our bridges. Each time something like this happens, it affects all of us and the economy. The implication is far reaching and this will not be accepted as a norm. It costs more resources to put the damaged bridges back in shape and the activity takes more time to be completed. We cannot continue to have a few people who are engaging in actions that cause damage to public assets to put everyone at risk.”

Sanwo-Olu said the State and the Federal Government would be conducting a joint investigation on the affected parts of the bridge to ascertain the level of rehabilitation work required to put it back in shape. He said the reopening of the closed section of the bridge may not happen until after structural engineers completed their investigation and certified it for use.

He said the Government’s main focus in the interim was to bring normalcy back to vehicular movement along the routes and ease the pain commuters are going through in the axis.