According to Vanguard News, The Lagos State Government, led by the Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, has set a deadline of July 31st, 2024, for traders and shop owners in Oshodi markets to remove any extensions or attachments on their shops, or they risk facing demolition.
During an awareness program organized in collaboration with the Oshodi-Isolo Local Council Development Area mu, LCDA, the General Manager of LASBCA, Arc. Gbolahan Oki, issued this ultimatum.
Oki emphasized the government’s commitment to ensuring environmental orderliness in all corners of Lagos markets by addressing the unauthorized constructions by shop and plaza owners who violate the State’s physical planning regulations.
Oki vowed that “No amount of resistance and intimidation by miscreants or ethnic coloration put in blackmailing the state from doing the needful can make the State Government go back on its resolve to clean up the entire Lagos market of extensions and attachments”.
Oki expressed his frustration over the disturbance caused by shop owners who regularly add extensions and attachments to showcase their products on walkways and roads, leading to disruptions in the movement of vehicles and pedestrians, particularly in emergency situations.
Addressing the traders and shop owners during the event, Oki emphasized the significance of keeping the pathways within the market clear for smooth traffic flow.
The General Manager also urged those who have placed petrol and diesel generators on rooftops and staircases to remove them immediately.
In support of this instruction, Otunba Kehinde Almaroof Oloyede, Chairman of Oshodi/Isolo LCDA, cautioned traders to avoid a situation similar to the enforced removal of illegal extensions that occurred in Lagos Island.
The Iyaloja of Oshodi Market, Alhaja Risikat, expressed gratitude for the government’s leniency in providing a grace period, ensuring that the traders will comply with the deadline and remove the extensions and attachments voluntarily.
