Residents, traders and occupants carrying out illegal activities on the median of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway have been given a final warning by the Lagos State Government, as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced that a total clearance operation will commence next week to restore the highway corridor.
Governor Sanwo-Olu said the enforcement exercise will cover the entire stretch from Orile through Iyana Iba, LASU, Okokomaiko and other affected areas, warning that all illegal structures, markets and waste on the median would be removed.
“Let me also use this opportunity to once again give notice of warning to everybody on the Lagos-Badagry Express Road. Let me repeat: the Lagos-Badagry Express Road, from Orile all the way to Okokomaiko, we are coming to clear the entire median.”
The governor added that the operation would begin next week, saying the exact day would be announced by the enforcement team.
“Everything on the median will go. Whatever it is that will be destroyed will be taken away on the median.”
Describing the road as a major public investment, Sanwo-Olu said the government would not allow the corridor to be misused.
“It’s a 10-lane highway that was built with the resources of our taxpayers; I will not fold my arms and turn that international gateway into a slum.”
He further announced that thousands of enforcement personnel, supported with heavy equipment, would be deployed for the operation.
“We’re going to put thousands of men there. We’re going to come with every equipment we have, and we’re going to rake and take away everything. No one will be spared.”
The governor stressed that the median was never intended for commercial activities or habitation.
“It is not meant to be a market. It is not meant to be a storage. It is a median for the highway. It is a median that we’re meant to preserve for the investment we’ll make in that corridor.”
Reaffirming the government’s resolve, Sanwo-Olu said the state would maintain a permanent presence in the area to prevent a return of illegal activities.
“This is the final notice that we’re giving, and we are not going to buckle down. We will stay there. We will remain there. We will do everything that is remaining to ensure that the laws of the state are kept.”