The Lagos State Government on Tuesday announced the arrest of miscreants extorting money from pedestrians on the Oshodi pedestrian bridge.
Oluwaseun Osiyemi, the Commissioner for Transportation, announced this via his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
The bridge, located between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 of the Oshodi Bus Terminal, was closed in January due to concerns over its structural integrity and safety.
Pedestrians were advised to use an alternative bridge 30 meters away while a structural assessment was conducted.
“The Lagos State Government has ordered the closure of the pedestrian bridge located between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 in Oshodi Bus Terminal due to concerns regarding the safety and structural integrity of the bridge.
“The order in addition mandated the contractor that handled the initial construction of the terminal through the Office of Infrastructure to place concrete barriers at the entrances leading to the bridge to safeguard the lives of pedestrians who use the infrastructure and to also conduct a comprehensive structural integrity assessment on the bridge for the purpose of repairs/reconstruction works,” the government stated earlier.
However, due to increased human traffic on the alternative pedestrian bridge, miscreants began taking advantage of the situation to extort pedestrians.
Osiyemi confirmed that the suspects were arrested earlier on Tuesday, warning that authorities would continue to clamp down on such activities.
“Our attention has been drawn to the fact that miscreants have been extorting money from pedestrians on the Oshodi Bridge, which was closed by the authorities a few months ago because of structural issues,” he said
“These individuals were arrested this morning, and we will continue to make further arrests if such activities persist. The other bridge is available for usage while the necessary repairs on the closed bridge are ongoing,” Osiyemi added.
