The recent actions of the Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (KAI) resulted in the apprehension of at least 12 individuals who were found squatting on pedestrian bridges.
Providing this information was the state’s Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, who made the announcement on Wednesday through a post on X.
Wahab’s statement read, “Today, the operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps @LAGESCOfficial carried out clearance operations on the pedestrian bridges at Ikate Elegushi and Agungi along Ajah. A total of twelve miscreants were taken into custody for sleeping on the bridges and inside the bridge openings at Ikate Elegushi. The pedestrian bridge has since been cleaned by
@Lawma_gov and is now deemed safe for public use.”
In response, Lagos-based lawyer, Festus Ogun, expressed his concerns to the commissioner regarding what he viewed as penalizing the less fortunate for their lack of housing.
Ogun conveyed, “The abolition of the Vagrancy Law in the 1980s suggests that it is unjustifiable to punish the impoverished for their homelessness and unemployment. This approach directly infringes upon human rights and undermines human dignity,” shared via @mrfestusogun.
In a separate incident back in February, KAI informed that they had arraigned and successfully convicted 27 suspected troublemakers who had been arrested for unlawfully turning pedestrian bridges in the state into their living spaces.
Following their conviction, each of the culprits received a five-month jail sentence as ruled by the court, as reported by LAGESC.