Occupants of shops at Apongbon under the bridge have been given a 7-day notice to vacate.

Occupants of shops at Apongbon under the bridge have been given a 7-day notice to vacate.

Apongbon

NewsReport gathered that Federal Government has given occupants of spaces beneath its bridges in Lagos State seven days to vacate or face being evicted.

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“All occupants under our bridges, particularly in Lagos, have seven days to quit, beginning today,” said Oluropo Oyetade, Director of Highways, Bridges, and Design in the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, speaking on behalf of Minister Babatunde Fashola (yesterday).

“By March 31, the task force will begin forcibly evicting obstinate residents.” Such individuals would also pay to have their goods removed.

“By March 31, we will start cleaning up our bridges because if there were no illegal occupants of the space under this bridge, this fire would have been averted.

“Contract for Eko Bridge repairs has just been awarded, the contractor has not started work yet and now this has happened.

“Government cannot keep committing huge resources to maintain infrastructure, while some unscrupulous elements will continue to draw us back by damaging them.

“The enforcement order will also be extended to other states later because we can’t continue to record such cases.”

Traders recount loses

Lamenting her loss, Mrs. Yetunde Sogunro, who sells soft drinks under the bridge, said: “Two of my fridges were burnt. I could not remove them because I was not around. I don’t even know where to start from. I am finished. I just pray the government comes to our aid.

“We don’t really know where this fire started from or what caused it but some people were saying it was from bad oil that some people were using to bake cakes.”

Also speaking, an estate developer, who has some shops in the area, Mr. Taiwo Ilesanmi, said: “Today (yesterday) was a bad day, though my business was not affected. Most of the people whose shops were affected collected some items from my shop. How am I going to pay back because I know they cannot pay back? Some of them even took delivery of their goods on Tuesday. It is so sad.”