In furtherance of the Lagos State Government’s resolve to combat street trading and other environmental nuisance, operatives of the Central Business Districts have arrested 31 persons for engaging in street trading within the Lagos Island Business District.
Speaking on the operation, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Central Business Districts, Mr. Olugbenga Olarenwaju Oyerinde affirmed that the present administration is passionate about the cleanliness of the environment and has directed CBD officials to clamp down on all violators of environmental sanitation, traffic and physical planning laws in the State.
He also reiterated the determination of the State government to restore the original master plan of the Lagos Island Business Districts and its adjoining axis by checking the activities of street traders and developers, who have converted all available spaces like walkways, streets and roads to shops.
Oyerinde, therefore, called on traders operating in the CBD, especially those selling on the streets and walkways, to remove their extensions and makeshift shops from the roads immediately, as no one will be spared in the present efforts to clean up the business district.
The suspects, who were arrested at different locations in Balogun, Martins, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tom Jones and Broad Streets during a monitoring and enforcement exercise by the CBD operatives have, subsequently, been arraigned before Chief Magistrate Shakirat Obasa of the Lagos State Special Offences (Mobile Court) sitting at Alausa, Ikeja, for committing an offence contrary to the Environmental Management and Protection Law of Lagos State 2017.