The Federal Government has given motorists and other road users on the Lagos section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway two weeks to comply with safety regulations or risk the closure of the route.

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Olufemi Dare, issued the ultimatum on Monday during an inspection of the highway.

Dare said the government was concerned about dangerous speeding, vandalism, illegal parking and other activities threatening the safety of motorists and other road users.

He said the directive followed concerns raised by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, over persistent violations on the highway.

“Within two weeks, if there’s no improvement on all these issues, then we have no option than to come back and shut down this road,” Dare warned.

Government Warns Against Speeding

Dare expressed concern over motorists driving at excessive speeds on the highway, particularly around sections where construction work is still ongoing.

He said the prescribed speed limit on the coastal highway was 30 kilometres per hour, warning motorists against exceeding the limit.

“People who come to coastal road and get to a speed of 120 kilometres per hour on the coastal road, and where constructions are going on, bridges, construction are going on,” he said.

“We have said your speed on the coastal road must not be more than 30 kilometres per hour.”

The Lagos section of the coastal highway stretches about 103 kilometres and is divided into two sections, measuring approximately 47km and 56km respectively.

The two sections have 20 major bridges, with 10 located in each section, although several of the bridges are still under construction.

Dare said the government could no longer ignore reports of deaths and other safety incidents along the route.

Trucks, Okada, Hawkers Face Ban

The controller also warned articulated vehicle operators against parking trucks and trailers along the highway.

He said commercial motorcycles, tricycles, hawking and animal grazing were prohibited on the route.

“We don’t want Okada motorcycles, tricycles. We don’t want them on the coastal road,” Dare said.

He also warned motorists against creating or using illegal U-turns, saying anyone arrested for such activities would be prosecuted.

According to him, authorities will also remove shanties and other illegal structures along the highway.

Police Deployment Increased

Dare disclosed that the Federal Government had reached an agreement with the Lagos State Police Command to increase security deployment along the coastal road.

He said the decision followed meetings between Umahi and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani.

“Beginning from this morning, we’ve started to see the improvement in deployment of police. And we are going to have more,” Dare said.

Vandalism Threatens Highway Safety

Vandalism of safety infrastructure was also identified as a major challenge.

Dare disclosed that about five kilometres of ClearVu fencing had been removed, while approximately 18 kilometres of concrete covers had been vandalised and taken away.

“They come in the night, they remove the ClearVu fence that was used to barricade the communities from the coastal highway,” he said.

He said the government was considering replacing the steel ClearVu fencing with concrete barriers in vulnerable areas because the existing fencing could easily be removed.

“We have to change the strategy. In areas where we have block work today, we do not have any problem with them,” Dare said.

Government Plans CCTV, Coastal Guards

The controller also disclosed plans to deploy CCTV cameras along the highway to strengthen surveillance.

He said the government had approved the recruitment of 40 coastal guards for Section 1, with four expected to be drawn from each community along the route.

The guards will work with the police to provide community-level surveillance, while additional personnel will be recruited for Section 2.

Dare said some previously engaged coastal guards had been attacked by vandals, making stronger police protection necessary.

He added that the government would reorganise and train the coastal guards under the direct supervision of the Lagos State Police Command.

The Federal Government is now giving road users two weeks to comply with the safety regulations, with Dare warning that failure to improve could lead to the closure of the Lagos section of the coastal highway.