Residents of Igando in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State have lamented over the closure of an exit road which has been turned into a mini market in the community.
It was gathered that the residents, while coming out of adjoining streets along Agric Road, usually make use of the exit road to link the Igando Road to their various destinations.
It was learnt that the exit, which is closer to the main road, was later closed by a joint team of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA and the leadership of the local government area and had been left that way for close to two years.
It was further gathered that the exit point had been converted into a mini-market.
The situation had forced residents to be making use of bad alternative routes which have been damaging their vehicles.
A resident, Yinka Agbedejobi, said, “The exit has always been our normal route until it was blocked about two years ago. Meanwhile, the alternative route they made available for us to use not motorable. It is bad. I spend a lot of money fixing my car because of the damage it does to it.
“Other vehicle owners have similarly complained about this same problem. Despite our complaints, nothing has been done to fix it or at least grade it. Most times, some of us are forced to take the entry point to connect to the main road. We understand it is a one-way route but we have no option since the exit point has been blocked.”
Another resident, Rasaq Akande, regretted that the exit point had been converted to a mini market.
“The route has been converted to a marketplace. Business owners now erect shops and kiosks along the exit point. We also got to know that the owners of the businesses are paying dues which is the reason it is difficult for them to return it to its former state,” he said.
Another resident said the space between the entry and exit points had been converted to a garage, thereby making their efforts to get the place open more difficult.
When our correspondent visited the area, it was discovered that two concrete slabs were placed at the exit point while some business owners plied their trade along the spot.
When contacted, the spokesperson for LASTMA, Taofiq Adebayo, said, “The stakeholders held a meeting to solve the traffic problem in the area and they reached an agreement that the exit road should be blocked from motorists coming from Egan Road on the LASU-Iba Expressway. Our officers were only part of the meeting that the council chairman convened and not the ones that said it should be closed.”
Efforts made to reach the chairman of the Igando-Ikotun Local Development Area, Lasisi Akinsanya, proved abortive as calls made to his telephone line were not answered.
A text message sent afterwards had yet to be replied to as of the time this report was filed.
