A 75-year-old Ghanian squatter, Usman Hassan, who was among those displaced at the 86 apartments under the Dolphin Estate Bridge, Ikoyi, Lagos, has spoken about his ordeal in the environment.
He stated that the hardship faced in the country made people resort to sleeping under bridges because they could not afford decent accommodation.
Recall that the Lagos State Government had on Wednesday and Thursday last week uncovered under-bridge apartments where tenants reportedly pay N250,000 yearly.
The state’s Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed that the enforcement team of Lagos State’s Ministry of Environment and Water Resources successfully removed all structures, including a container utilised for various illegal activities, beneath the Dolphin Estate Bridge.
In an interview with Daily Trust, Hassan said he taught at Remo Divisional High School in Ogun State for 11 years before relocating to Lagos.
He admitted that sleeping under the bridge was dangerous, but people found solace in those apartments and shanties because the town conditions were challenging, and they could not afford rent in Lagos.
The Ghanaian said he was not around during the Lagos officials’ raid, and as such, he lost some of his belongings to the onslaught.
He said, “The man who owned the place doesn’t force people, the engineers working in this company (referring to a company around) begged him for their workers to stay nearby and when they need them for work, they’ll enter the place.
“I don’t know exactly how much he collects from them, but personally, he didn’t collect anything from me.
“For people paying, whether it’s N250,000 or not, I don’t know.
“You see, conditions are hard for people in the country and not everyone can afford houses in the town.
“I have been in this country since 1981 in Ogun State. I was a teacher at Remo Divisional High School for about 11 years before I came to Lagos.
“No work in town to survive on. This man pitied my condition and gave me space here (under the bridge). So, when this thing happened, I took my belongings and I am going again. Sleeping under the bridge is dangerous, but the condition of the country made people resort to this.
“As you are seeing me, I don’t have a dime in my pocket.”
