Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has given a 7-day ultimatum for the removal of all unapproved street gates in the state to ease the flow of traffic.
Sanwo-Olu ordered that the gates should either be left open between 5 am and midnight or have them pull down by government officials, as their actions breach the provisions of the State Traffic Laws and regulations.
The directive was given in a statement titled, “LASG issues 7-day removal notice to communities with unapproved street gates,” which was delivered by the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, on Friday, December 4, 2020.
Oladeinde stressed that the ministry, in collaboration with Local Government and Community Affairs has the regulatory authority on the fitting of gates towards improving traffic management on the inner roads, while protecting the lives and property of the affected communities.
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Oladeinde’s statement partly reads,
“In line with its policy and regulations on Traffic Management geared towards improving the free flow of traffic across the metropolis, the Lagos State Government has issued a seven-day removal notice to communities with unapproved street gates in the State, with a directive to either leave such gates open between 5 am and midnight or have them dismantled.
“During the recent inspection exercise conducted by the officials of the Ministry of Transportation, it was discovered that some communities have sited gates on some inner roads to avoid vehicular movement on their streets, and this unruly act has contributed to the heavy traffic congestion currently being experienced on our roads on daily basis.”
Oladeinde added that while it is expected that all street gates across the state be opened between 5 am and 12 midnight, the gates must be managed by security personnel employed by the community or residents’ association and must be opened for emergency services such as police, ambulance and fire service activities at any time.
He explained that the Special Committee established by the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation on the demolition of gated streets has begun enforcement exercise on the removal of gates in locations that failed to conform with the government’s instruction on Gated Streets regulation.
The Commissioner, therefore, advised communities with Government approval for the installation of gates on their streets to come forward with their documents for onward review and necessary approvals, failure of which, the Special Committee would have to remove such street gates.