The Lagos State Government on Thursday gave marching orders for the immediate dislodgement of all squatters under the Opebi–Mende bridge.

The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, made this known in a statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Mr Kunle Adeshina.

He said the squatters had converted the underbelly of the new but yet to be inaugurated Opebi – Mende bridge to homes and stores.

He also directed security agencies to immediately move in and dislodge all the squatters and their shanties.

According to Wahab, the primary responsibility of every government is the preservation of life and property, and the present administration would not shirk its responsibility in that regard.

He said it is disheartening that an iconic project that was almost ready for inauguration had suddenly been taken over by different shades of miscreants and squatters.

He added that even some people from the Cane Village had come to the underbelly of the bridge to create an illegal settlement.

He vowed that the state government would not only dislodge the squatters but would permanently monitor the locations, so that they would not return.

He warned all the automobile mechanics who had converted the open space adjacent to the bridge to their workshop to immediately relocate to avoid impounding the vehicles.

The Special Adviser on Infrastructure, Mr Olufemi Daramola, while conducting the commissioner and others round, said his office is concerned that if immediate action was not taken, the area might become a slum.

Daramola emphasised that the state had invested humongous resources in erecting the bridge and would not allow undesirable elements to use it as a means of unleashing terror on law-abiding citizens.

He gave an undertaking that the Office of Infrastructure would partner with the ministry to ensure a total cleanliness of the area and its sustenance. (NAN)