Most times, when there is an accident on major highways, concerns are raised about the menace of articulated vehicles parked indiscriminately and obstructing the free flow of traffic, but little is said about their activities and damage caused on roads and power infrastructure within gated communities in Lagos.
In this report, Sarah Ayeku met with residents of four CDAs in Ejigbo LCDA where the activities of trucks and sand sellers are endangering lives and crumbling businesses.
This is an unusual scene in Ashamu swamp community development area, a sprawling community in Ejigbo LCDA.
The placards may be conveying their grievances, their forlorn faces and massive turnout from Ashamu swamp and three other communities tell us there is more to the story.
This peaceful protest is the latest effort to get the attention of the government after previous engagements with the LCDA and sand sellers failed.
The bone of contention for parties involved is the reconstruction of roads damaged by articulated vehicles.
The roads leading to the communities have been cut off, residents have to park their vehicles and trek for at least 200 metres to pick their children or even access their homes.
To register their grievances, residents took the protest to the office of the sand sellers and LCDA. At Divine Avenue, they were stopped in their tracks, some sand sellers hurled stones at the TVC News crew and the residents upon seeing the camera.
The communities allege the sand sellers have refused to repair the damaged road and when they contributed monies, authorities of the Ejigbo LCDA stopped them for embarking on the project.
These residents are seeking intervention of the state government, they are also asking the sand sellers to take responsibility for the maintenance of the road within the communities.
