The Lagos State Waste Management Authority #LAWMA has announced the commencement of a continuous enforcement and reclamation operation along the #LagosBadagryExpressway corridor, covering Mile 2 Interchange through Orile–Iganmu, Trade Fair, Iyana Iba, Alaba, Alaba Rago/Ojo, Ijanikin, Okokomaiko and up to Badagry.
The announcement was made by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Muyiwa Gbadegesin, who said the operation is being carried out by LAWMA’s Waste Investigation, Surveillance and Enforcement Team in collaboration with the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (KAI/LAGESC).
According to LAWMA, repeated clearances along the corridor have been undermined by the reoccupation of road medians, setbacks, drainage alignments and right-of-way by illegal traders, migrant squatters and other unauthorised occupants.
These areas, the agency noted, have been converted into informal markets and makeshift residences, creating environmental, safety and traffic challenges along the busy international route.
Field assessments by enforcement teams estimate that several thousand illegal occupants are currently spread across affected sections of the expressway, with some estimates placing the figure close to 10,000 people.
Gbadegesin stated that the current exercise is not a one-off operation but a sustained, intelligence-led enforcement drive. Measures outlined include hotspot mapping, geo-tagged incident logging, routine day and night patrols, removal of illegal structures, arrests where necessary, and prosecution of offenders in line with existing environmental and sanitation laws.
LAWMA explained that the renewed action builds on previous joint enforcement efforts along the Lagos–Badagry corridor, including earlier median clearances at #Alaba Rago–Ojo, prosecutions and remand of offenders, as well as state-led removal of shanties along sections linked to the Lagos Blue Line rail project.
Residents, commuters and traders using the corridor have been advised to stay off road medians and setbacks, dismantle illegal attachments voluntarily and comply fully with regulations, as the state moves to reclaim and maintain the corridor as a safe, clean and passable route connecting Lagos to neighbouring West African countries.