There are about 200 shipwrecks and abandoned vessels currently lying on the Lagos coastline including lagoons, and N25billion is required to remove them.
Aside the shipwrecks’ environmental effects, they pose a danger to navigation on the water ways as well as the health of residents due to the toxic nature arising from the decay of the wreckage, the state government has said.
Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Prince Adesegun Oniru, who spoke at the weekend while briefing newsmen, said: “There are also security concerns as these wrecks can provide miscreants with hideouts for their activities. Removal of shipwrecks and abandoned vessels is not a small task and it will cost nothing less than N25 billion to effectively remove them.”
Oniru, who pointed out that it is not the responsibility of the state government to cough out the required amount, lamented that efforts to get the federal government to support in the protection of coastlines have yielded little result.
The commissioner said the state government is currently working on a law aimed at finding and prosecuting owners of abandoned vessels on its coastline.
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