By Seyi Odewale
Several shops under the Apongbon section of the Eko Bridge on Lagos Island, and goods worth millions of naira, were early yesterday gutted by fire, making the bridge impassable and causing a heavy traffic gridlock. Also, commercial activities around Lagos Island and the adjoining areas were grounded. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained.

“Traffic from Eko bridge had to be re-routed to Ebute-Ero to link the inner marina. Men of the fire service and other security agencies are still on the ground. Therefore, CMS bridge and Eko bridge inward/outward Apongbon are closed to traffic at the moment,” Lagos State Traffic Management Agency tweeted.

Director of Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Adeseye Margaret, described the fire as “disastrous”. “The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service is currently battling go an inferno at Eko bridge Apongbon, Lagos Island, she said, adding: “The fire which was reported at 03:14 Wednesday wee hours under the Eko bridge at Apongbon, where various stocks in trade are plied was met well alight by the first set of the crew of the agency on arrival.

“The intensity of the fire has badly affected the Eko bridge truncating movement along that corridor. The nature of the fire is disastrous as all Emergency responders are on top of the situation.

“There has been no reported case of injury or death while Fire fighting operations are still ongoing. Update to follow,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has given all traders and other illegal occupants under the over 20 bridges in Lagos a final ultimatum to vacate before March 31 or face forceful eviction.

The Director, Highways, Bridges and Design, Mr Oluropo Oyetade, who gave the ultimatum during an emergency meeting between Federal Ministry of Works delegation and the Lagos State government officials to review the Apongbon Bridge fire said: “I was about to enter a meeting concerning the Third Mainland Bridge before I was hurriedly ordered by the Honourable Minister to come here to give his directive and mandate that he has given to me, to announce that the area (Apongbon Bridge fire) should be cordoned off, which we have done.”

He added: “And that the inspection of the defects caused by this inferno shall be taken immediately when the place cools down. But the most important thing that I must deliver here is that, all the occupants under our bridges particularly in Lagos, we are giving them seven days to pack away.

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“Seven days counting from today. By 31st of March, the task force will swing into action, and we will impound all recalcitrant elements that we find under the bridges. They shall be forcefully evicted. Not only that, they will be made to pay for any items we have to remove.

“Let me repeat and make myself clear, all occupants under our bridges, we have over 20 bridges in Lagos, should move before 31st of March,” he said.

He warned that a task force would embark on enforcement of recovery of the Right of Way (RoW) on all the 20 bridges in Lagos as from March 31.

Oyetade said that a contract was already on for the rehabilitation of the Apongbon Bridge, whose repairs had not been concluded only for the same bridge to be gutted by fire.”
He described the damage to Apongbon Bridge as an avoidable incident.

According to him, the government cannot continue to build and allow the irresponsible attitude of Nigerians to damage such infrastructure built with huge resources.

The director said all Federal Controllers of Works have been directed to clear encroachers on all bridges nationwide, while lamenting similar fire incidents to bridges in Ajaokuta and Kano State recently.

He also condemned the activities of illegal sand dredgers that removed the soil under the Third Mainland Bridge, to jeopardise the safety of the infrastructure.

Oyetade said three companies had been arrested in connection with this development and would be prosecuted.

The director, who said he was to hold a meeting with the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) in Abuja to discuss issues of regulation of the sand dredgers, had to run down to Lagos to attend to the Apongbon Bridge fire.

According to him, the Apongbon fire was massive, and the traffic architecture was being drawn up between his engineers and the Lagos State officials on the best possible diversion options.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Frederick Oladeinde, said his ministry would issue a release on diversion alternatives to the public after consultations by assessing and exploring the best options about diversion alternatives.

The Apongbon Bridge fire, he noted, would negatively impact traffic, adding that a combined team of traffic regulatory agencies were on ground to manage a traffic architecture to be drawn to reduce the hardship on road users.

Earlier, the Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr Omotayo Bamgbose-Martins, Special Adviser to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Works and Infrastructure, Mrs Aramide Adeyoye, shared strategies to be adopted in collaboration with other agencies.

The Commissioners of the Lagos State Ministries of Environment; Physical Planning and Urban Development, as well as Heads of various Lagos safety regulatory and emergency management agencies, also took turns to advise the public and announce safety, health, and traffic measures.

The Lagos Sector Commander of the Federal Roads Safety (FRSC), Mr Olusegun Ogungbemide, also announced collaborative traffic management plans.