Residents of Lagos State have disregarded the directive of the state government on the use of pedestrian bridges against crossing the highway.

It was also learnt that the pedestrians now cross the highway, leaving the bridge unused.

On Sunday, February 11, the Lagos State Government through the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, described the crossing of major highways by pedestrians as an offence, adding that any defaulter caught would be prosecuted.

The Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps thereafter embarked on the enforcement and arrest of offenders across the state.

Our correspondent however observed that some of the bridges are no longer in use as pedestrians preferred using the highway.

This was observed at Iyana-Ipaja and Ile-Epo along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway as well as the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway area of the state.

At Iyana Ipaja, the pedestrian bridge was deserted as no one could be seen walking on it. This was a similar sight at the bridge at the Ile-Epo end of the road.

A resident, Bimbo Aderenle, who spoke to our correspondent, said the pedestrians only use the bridge when there was ongoing enforcement by the officials of LASIEC.

She said, “The officials enforcing the use of the bridge come here once or twice in a week. And whenever they arrive, they redirect people towards the bridge. They also arrest some of the offenders and take them into the van. During this period, people comply with the directives, but once the officials leave, they return immediately to crossing the highway.”

At Oshodi, two LASIEC vans were stationed at both ends of the pedestrian bridges on the expressway as the officials looked out for offenders.

A resident in the area who identified himself as Steve said despite the presence of the officials at the point, some of the pedestrians still crossed the road.

He said, “The officials used to arrest offenders here in Oshodi, but despite their presence, some people still cross the highway. Some of them cross it without noticing the presence of the officials, while others try to move some distance away from them before crossing to avoid being caught.”

Another resident, Tunji Bankole, however, urged the government to erect iron net barricades across the areas where there was no compliance.

He said, “The way to go is to fix an iron net barricade across some of the areas where compliance is low. This will complement the effort of the officials carrying out the enforcement.”

The Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, when contacted by our correspondent on Wednesday wondered why the violation was still being recorded despite the enforcement.

He said, “I find it difficult to believe that people are still crossing the expressway. Even though they are being arrested and despite the government’s effort to step up advocacy. People are using loudspeakers to tell them the effect of doing it and how dangerous it is, yet they are doing it. You see people being arrested, yet they do it. How can you see a vehicle, and then dash across the road? People get knocked down every day, yet they won’t stop. The government won’t relent in its enforcement and will continue to devise new means to ensure full compliance.” (The PUNCH)

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