- By Halimah Olamide
The Lagos state government made good its vow to bring down the notorious Obalende shanty ‘town’ which had for decades housed hundreds of miscreants, traders and others.
Officials of the Lagos state Ministry of the Environment and Water Sanitation had moved to the location in the early hours of Saturday after the expiration of the quit notice handed over to the illegal occupants weeks ago.
Tokunbo Wahab, Commissioner for Environment, had said that Obalende would go down as the government had declared zero tolerance for illegal shanties in the metropolis.
When the bulldozers moved to the site on Saturday, many of the occupants were seen hurriedly making efforts to remove some of their belongings while some miscreants also had a field day scavenging.
Before now, Obalende had served as ‘accommodation’ for many homeless itinerant traders, wheelbarrow pushers, bus conductors and others.
The place had also been notorious for various forms of crimes as drugs dealers hide under the darkness of the slum to launch their trades.
Saturday’s demolition of Obalende follows in the recent pursuit of a cleaner environment. Last week, shanties under the Ijora Bridge were removed as the government’s ultimatum expired.