The Lagos State government has ordered the evacuation of property owners and squatters.
Revealing this during a post on Twitter, the state Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab said a 48-hour quit notice was issued to people in illegal structures along Gbagada-Bariga drainage channel.
Wahab noted that the drainage channel had been blocked by squatters who live there, and property owners who built structures there contributed to the recent flooding in the area.
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His post read in part,
“The drainage channel which defloods Bariga, Gbagada, Sholuyi downstream communities and environs, and discharges into System 1 has been taken over by squatters who have constituted nuisance and security risks to the estate, and property owners who deliberately built to obstruct free flow of water in the area.
Shanties were erected along the length of the channel, and their activities blocked collectors that are supposed to carry stormwater into the channel, which resulted in the flooding experienced during the week.”
Wahab furthermore explained that these illegal structures are the major cause of flooding and collapse of building, including the two-storey building that collapsed in mushin area of Lagos.
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