The Lagos State Task Force on Environment and Special Offences Enforcement Unit has arrested 40 persons for allegedly trading on the street at night and causing heavy traffic in Ikeja.

The agency’s spokesperson, Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, confirmed the arrests to the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday.

In a statement sent to The PUNCH, Abdulraheem also noted that the suspects had been operating illegal night street trading and restaurants at Alade Avenue, Orishe and Johnson Streets, all off Obafemi Awolowo Way in Ikeja.

“They converted streets to mini-markets and restaurants, thereby causing serious human/vehicular traffic obstructions and serious environmental pollution along those routes and adjoining streets,” he said.

The spokesperson said the two-day night raid led by the agency’s Chairman, CSP Adetayo Akerele, was carried out when the traders erected makeshift shops and placed barricades on parts of the road, causing traffic impediments.

Abdulraheem noted that the suspects also flouted the state’s laid-down environmental laws through indiscriminate disposal of waste and solid materials into the gutters in the area.

He said, “The raid will be a continuous exercise as a step made in the interest of the citizenry who have longed for solutions to the menace of street trading.

“Some of these locations serve as a haven for suspected criminals and they enjoy the proceeds of their criminal activities there.

“The flooding experienced in some parts of the state is also a result of improper disposal of waste that ends up clogging the drainage channels.

“They also sell drugs indiscriminately there, which is counter-productive to the society,” he added.

The spokesperson appealed to other recalcitrant street traders and vendors to relocate their stores to designated outlets designed for trading and vacate the streets and inner roads.

PUNCH