Following the consistent outcry from members of the general public on the activities of hoodlums and traders who have turned pedestrian bridges to places of abode, the long arm of the law has caught up with twelve (12) offenders at the Oshodi and Ladipo areas of Lagos State.
The Corps Marshal of the Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), CP Gbemisola Akinpelu (retd) disclosed this revelation at the Command Headquarters of the Agency in Bolade-Oshodi after she led a tactical team on the raid.
According to her, “the hoodlums and defiant traders are partners in progress when it comes to desecrating pedestrian bridges meant for pedestrians to access instead of crossing the highways as one side is trading illegally and the hoodlums lay about to rob innocent citizens”.
While speaking on the arrest, CP Akinpelu reiterated the commitment of the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu towards a cleaner and greener environment of which the mandate falls with LAGESC to rid the State of environmental infractions.
She avowed that the Agency will not rest on its oars to deliver on that mandate.
She stated that the government erected pedestrian bridges strategically across major highways in the State to assist residents in crossing the highways with a view to reducing hit and run vehicle drivers and to also avoid accidents in the state.
Akinpelu bemoaned the activities of traders who are in the habit of displaying their wares on the pedestrian bridges which hinders free human movement and hoodlums notoriously known for sleeping on these bridges and robbing pedestrians as it is not an acceptable practice in Lagos.
She affirmed that the corps is determined to rid the state of illegal trading on and around pedestrian bridges whilst warning that anyone caught using the pedestrian bridges for illegal activities would be dealt with in line with the legal framework of the State.
She finally revealed that those arrested will be charged to court in accordance with the Lagos State Environmental Law 2017 (as amended) to serve as a deterrent for others not to attempt.