The Lagos State Government has announced plans to demolish illegal structures built beneath high-tension cables in the Makoko community, Yaba.
The move follows last week’s clearance of shanties and dilapidated buildings at the Oworonshoki end of the Third Mainland Bridge in Kosofe Local Government Area.
Permanent Secretary of the Office of Urban Development, Gbolahan Oki, said the government had repeatedly engaged Makoko residents, warning that the expansion of shanties beneath power lines and towards the bridge posed grave risks.
“We have told them to move, but they have refused. They are even extending to the middle of the Third Mainland Bridge,” Oki said. “If any of those cables fall, the blame will be on government. The lives of the people are more important.”
He explained that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration would continue the enforcement exercise, working with community leaders to remove illegal structures.
On recent demolitions in Oworonshoki, which sparked protests and a brief blockage of the bridge, Oki revealed that residents had been given three years and an amnesty period to regularise their building approvals. Only two complied.
“The affected buildings were structurally defective and dangerous,” he noted, adding that investigations linked some traffic robberies on the bridge to residents who retreated to the shanties after attacks.
Oki stressed that the government remained committed to enforcing planning regulations and ensuring that all buildings are safe and fit for habitation.