Lagos State Government Warns Landlords Against Gated Streets

The Lagos State Government on Monday ordered immediate re-opening of all street gates and barricades in the nook and cranny of the State between 5 am and 12 mid-night daily, just as it warned that defaulting streets would have their gates pulled down within the next seven days.

The State Government also ordered that all street gates and barricades are now only permitted to be locked between 12 mid-night and 5am, besides such locked gates must be manned by security guards within the period under lock and key in case of emergencies.

Addressing journalists at the State Secretariat in Alausa, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Community Development and Chairman of Community Affairs Advisory Council, Mr. Tajudeen Adeniyi Quadri said the decision of the State Government followed series of complaints from residents on the disturbing trend of street gates and barricades.

He said there have been situations whereby fire fighters and police were prevented from getting to emergency scenes on time due to street gates and barricades as well as instances where rushing patients with emergency situations to hospital were equally frustrated.

Quadri, who addressed the briefing alongside the Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Hon Muslim Folami; Special Adviser to the Governor on Community and Communications, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, and some Chairmen of Community Development Associations (CDA), said as a responsive and responsible government, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has directed that the restriction on closure of street gates and barricades be strictly adhere to henceforth.

He added that most places where gates have been mounted in Lagos state have become environmentally unsanitary, while it had been observed that mechanics have also turned such streets to their workshops.

He recalled that the directive on street gates and barricade was initially introduced in 2009, but it was unfortunate that as years rolled by, the directive seemed to be abandoned, as more street gates were introduced even to streets that never had them before.