Another demolition exercise may be looming in Lagos as the State Informal Space Management Authority, LASISMA, has begun enforcement against traders, squatters and other illegal occupants of public spaces around the newly constructed Ojo General Hospital.
The enforcement operation commenced on Monday around the hospital, located along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, near the LASU-Iba Road junction, with affected occupants given seven days to vacate areas designated as setbacks and corridors for the hospital and other government infrastructure.
The exercise began with sensitisation and the issuance of contravention notices, with LASISMA warning that full enforcement would follow after the expiration of the ultimatum.
Speaking with journalists after the exercise, the General Manager of LASISMA, Oludaisi Oso, said the intervention was aimed at restoring public spaces around government facilities and ensuring that they remained available for their designated purposes.
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Oso said the authority identified several activities around the hospital, including an illegal refuse dump, an unauthorised fruit market, public toilets, a wood market and structures occupied by squatters.
He argued that such activities were unsuitable for the environment of a health facility and could undermine the purpose of the newly constructed hospital.
“What we have here today will defeat the purpose of this institution, Ojo General Hospital. We have this kind of institution here, and at the same time we have this kind of activity, illegal waste dump, unauthorised fruit market, public toilets, wood market and illegal squatters,” he said.
According to the LASISMA chief, the encroachments could create challenges relating to public health, security, emergency access and environmental safety.
He warned that the situation could pose even greater risks once the hospital becomes fully operational, particularly when patients requiring urgent medical attention need unhindered access to the facility.
“If a pregnant woman needs to be attended to and has just five minutes to get to the theatre on emergency, how will she be able to get into this place with all this encroachment?” Oso asked.
He also raised concerns about the proximity of decomposing refuse to the hospital, noting that poor environmental conditions could expose patients and visitors to additional health risks.
“Should somebody come in here to be treated for malaria and at the end of the day take away cholera, even from the same health institution? It is not going to work,” he said.
Oso explained that illegal occupation of setbacks and spaces belonging to public institutions was a wider problem across Lagos, affecting government schools and other facilities in different parts of the state.
He said the state government had mandated the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and LASISMA to reclaim such spaces and restore them to their intended purposes.
“We are starting with government institutions, and then from there we will now move to other places that have been illegally encroached upon. There is no way we can continue like this,” he said.
The LASISMA boss clarified that the government was not against legitimate commercial activities but insisted that businesses must operate from locations officially designated for them.
“Government is not saying people should not get involved in doing their businesses. What we are saying is that they should go and do it in those places that have been created for the purpose. They should go to the markets,” he said.
He advised traders who require additional commercial spaces to approach the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development through the appropriate channels for allocation of designated locations.
Oso stressed that areas reserved as road setbacks and spaces attached to public institutions could not lawfully be converted into informal markets, workshops or other commercial premises.
“Our setbacks today, we have declared war on them. No more illegal encroachment on all our setbacks,” he said.
He explained that Monday’s operation was primarily intended to sensitise occupants and formally notify them of the violations. Those affected have seven days to leave the area, after which enforcement teams will return.
“After seven days, we’ll come with enforcement,” Oso warned.
He added that the encroachment extended across the hospital’s perimeter and that contravention notices would be served on occupants found within the affected areas.
Oso further disclosed that the government had plans to redevelop the spaces surrounding the hospital, with complementary facilities expected to support the operation of the newly constructed health institution.
He urged residents and businesses to comply with Lagos planning and environmental regulations, stressing that the state remained open to people and commercial activities but that such activities must be carried out within the framework of established rules.
“Lagos is a place that welcomes everybody. Lagos is a place that is ready to receive everybody. But when you come into a place, you must do your things in accordance with the rules and regulations,” he said.
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