Some residents of the estate.
Residents
of Peace Estate in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State
have raised the alarm over the menace of tankers in the area.
They said all the trucks driven from the
Oshodi-Apapa Expressway have found their way to the area thereby
obstructing roads to their buildings.
They therefore appealed to the Lagos State Government to come to their aid.
A landlord and member of the estate residents association, Dr. Egbeobawaye Smart, told Us on Saturday that the vehicles were often parked indiscriminately by the roads thereby denying them access to their homes.
He also said some of the vehicles were parked by unknown persons thereby posing security threat to the residents.
Smart said, “We are tired of these
vehicles. We can no longer have access to our homes. We want the state
government to intervene. This is a residential area. Some of the
vehicles are parked by unknown persons.
“What is more worrisome is the blocking
of a major access road to the estate called Maria Road. This road has
virtually been taken over by the trucks.”
Another resident, Elvis Okonji, said the
problems were compounded by the fact that the only narrow route that
private vehicles could take was flooded, making it impassable.
Okonji said as law-abiding citizens, the residents had alerted the local government and police authorities to their predicament.
He alleged that because of the development, criminals had infiltrated the estate.
Another resident, Solomon Agbede, said the situation had left the residents in a quandary on what to do next.
“Why must we be suffering because they
were asked to relocate from the expressway? We are fed up with the
frustrations we experience everyday in this area,” he added.
He said some of the identified owners of
the tankers and trucks had ignored all entreaties from them that they
should do things with “human feelings” by ensuring that they don’t block
the access to the estate.
But a tanker driver, who craved
anonymity, said the drivers had been appealing to the residents to bear
with them until things were sorted out with the relevant authorities.
He said, “We are appealing to the
residents to bear with us. We believe everything will soon be sorted
out. We have been cooperating with them. If they say we have not been
cooperating with them, they are economical with the truth.
“We are law-abiding people. We are not
ready for any showdown with them. We only urge them to let us be for now
until the authorities address the problem.”
When our correspondent visited the area, many trucks were seen parked everywhere.
