19th August, 2010
Residents of Lekki and Ajah areas of Lagos State, Nigeria, this morning, trooped out in their thousands protesting the proposed toll gate the government was planning to erect on the road.
The protesters blocked the ever-busy Lekki-Ajah expressway from as early as 8 am when they started to show their aversion to the toll plaza planned for the road.
But the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola was at the scene of the protest three hours later.Fashola calmed down the protesters and assured them that the state government would look into their grievances. As the former departed the scene, many of the protesters left and there was flow of traffic again.
A spokesman of the protesters, Barrister Adewale Sanni told P.M.NEWS that Governor Fashola did not tell them anything other than what he had told them on two previous occasions.
He said, “Fashola assured us he would look into the matter and set up a committee on the issue. But he had said that before. Therefore, we were surprised that the tolling plan was on in spite of the opposition by the people. We feel his (Fashola’s) hands are tied. But the people will not be taken for granted.â€
As at the time of going to press, normalcy was returning to the Lekki-Epe expressway as majority of the protesters had left with a few others left behind.
A team of policemen and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management, LASTMA, were on the ground to maintain peace.
On Tuesday, Fashola had met with stakeholders on the Island where he said the government would continue to upgrade infrastructure in the area.
The stakeholders also assured of their support for the government and lauded it for the transformation of infrastructure in the area.
—Paul Iyoghojie