The Lagos State Government has restated its determination to clear all illegal structures built beneath high-tension power lines and along restricted corridors, warning that the continued encroachment poses grave danger to residents.

During an assessment tour of the Third Mainland Bridge corridor on Monday, the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Electronic Geographic Information System (EGIS) and Urban Development, Olajide Babatunde, said the government would intensify enforcement to “protect lives and safeguard critical infrastructure.”

“We will not tolerate habitation or commercial activities beneath high-tension lines or within the 50-metre right-of-way,” Babatunde said. “These practices endanger lives. Enforcement will be strict and sustained.”

Babatunde toured the Oworonshoki, Adekunle and Makoko sections alongside the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Gbolahan Oki; General Manager of LASURA, Oladimeji Animashaun; and other senior officials. The team discovered multiple shanties and illegal extensions encroaching dangerously toward the Third Mainland Bridge.

Oki, who also addressed journalists, said residents had been warned several times to vacate the unsafe zones.

“As far back as February, we gave them 14 days to leave,” he said. “But as you can see, they refused. Some structures are even extending towards the middle of the Third Mainland Bridge. We have warned them several times — the next step is to take the bull by the horn.”

He stressed that public safety remains the government’s top priority.

“If any cable falls and anything happens, people will blame the government. The lives of the people are more important,” he said.

Oki also referenced the recent enforcement at Oworonshoki, which sparked protests and briefly blocked the bridge. Despite enjoying a three-year amnesty to regularise their buildings, he said only two households complied.

He reaffirmed Governor Sanwo-Olu’s resolve to uphold urban development laws, adding: “Enforcement must continue, whether people protest or not. We must protect lives.”