Lagos State to Seal Dredge Site Converted Into Criminal Hideout
The Lagos State Government on Wednesday threatened to seal a dredging site at Ade-Odo near Aja-Badore, Ibeju Lekki Local Council Development Area as the site was becoming a hideout for criminals.
Chairman, Ministry of Environment Taskforce, Mr Shola Gegeloye, said during an enforcement operation that the area had become high-risk.
He expressed regret that the task force had not been able to arrest any of the criminals using the place as a hideout as they must be caught in the act of crime.
“We do not have anything to do with the truck drivers; we do not want to make any arrest.
“We must make our intentions known that this place is not a place to turn to `The Banana Republic’ where anything goes.
“This Ade-Odo sand dredging site is just one kilometer to the main road and more than 100 trucks visit the dredging site every 30 minutes.
“We want the Commissioner for Mineral Resources to come and address the issue; they will relocate the dredgers because the major concern is that they use the place as criminal hideout,’’ he said.
Having gone round the site in the company of officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, Gegeloye observed that there were a lot of shanties built on the lagoon from Ade-Odo in Aja to Badore Waterfront.
He also observed that sand dredging had done a lot of damage to facilities such as roads and the environment.
He said revenue collected by the Lagos State government at the site on daily basis was infinitesimal compared to damages sand dredging had done to the state.
Gegeloye also decried the traffic snarl in the area where motorists spent more than five hours covering a distance of one kilometer