Operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESCO) have arrested miscreants charging people for using the makeshift crossover bridge at the Trade Fair.
Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, confirmed this in an update while reacting to a complaint made by an X user about the issue.
An X user who tweets anonymously as @ARISE0214 shared a video of the miscreants asking people to pay before using the bridge with the caption: “This is what the construction company has caused along Lagos Badagry Express Way. While the construction is going on, they should provide temporary access routes for the citizens where there are no pedestrian bridges to avoid all this.”
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In his reaction, Wahab said: “Following a complaint made by @ARISE0214, miscreants charging people for using the makeshift crossover bridge at Trade Fair this morning have been arrested by the operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps @LAGESCOfficial.” He added that those arrested will be prosecuted according to the law.
LAGESC spokesman, Ajayi Lukman, thereafter issued a press release confirming the apprehension of a five-man syndicate for extorting pedestrians in Lagos.
“As part of concerted efforts to rid the State of environmental infractions and ensure pedestrians’ safety, the Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) popularly known as KAI secured the arrest of a 5-man syndicate involved in the extortion of crossing pedestrians at the International Trade Fair Bus Stop in Lagos on Wednesday,” it said.
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“According to the Corps Marshal, Major Olaniyi Olatunbosun Cole (retd), ‘‘we caught wind of the negative acts of these criminals hindering pedestrian activity at the popular Trade Fair bus stop via a viral video circulating on social media and we swung into action to arrest the five suspects involved, to serve them justice through the courts for the pain caused to Lagosians in this rainy season.”
The Corps Marshal disclosed the identities of the apprehended suspects causing distress to Lagosians namely as Elisha Odunsi, M, 19, Muhammed Saidu, M, 20, Tunde Kazeem, M, 20, Musbau Habeeb, M, 26 and Muftau Ottun, M, 36 as they will be charged to court for prosecution.
