The Federal Government has launched a special security outfit to protect the multi-billion-naira Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway from vandals, illegal occupants and other unauthorised activities.
The newly created Coastal Highway Guards were unveiled by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, with an initial deployment of 40 officers to patrol the massive highway project.
The Senior Special Assistant on New Media to the Lagos State Governor, Jubril Gawat, announced the development in a statement shared on his X handle on Sunday.
According to Gawat, the guards would be responsible for maintaining constant presence on the highway, reporting suspicious activities, monitoring vandalism and enforcing restrictions against hawking, loitering, motorcycles and tricycles.
He said the initiative would be led by retired General Adekunle Shodunke, with the team expected to work alongside security agencies in Lagos State.
Quoting Umahi, Gawat said the guards were not part of an empowerment scheme but a permanent workforce created to protect government infrastructure.
“The Hon. Minister says this is not an empowerment programme. It is a full-time job to protect national assets of the government and in line with the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he stated.
The move followed the minister’s alarm over what he described as widespread vandalism and illegal activities along parts of the coastal highway.
Umahi had earlier raised the alarm over the removal of construction materials, destruction of fences and illegal occupation of sections of the road.
“We have had very terrible, unpatriotic elements removing the blocks, breaking the fence, removing the rods and treading on the highway. This must stop,” the minister warned.
He directed officials to ensure that motorcycles, tricycles, hawkers and other unauthorised users were kept away from the highway.
“There is no superhighway all over the country where you see people loitering. No keke on the coastal highway, no motorcycle on the coastal highway, and no loitering,” Umahi said.
The minister also revealed that he visited the project site around 11pm with members of the National Assembly and found some people sleeping on the highway.
He urged the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to step up protection of critical national infrastructure, while disclosing that the ministry had opened its projects to scrutiny by anti-corruption agencies.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, a 750-kilometre, 10-lane road project, is designed to link Lagos with Cross River State through Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.
The project is being constructed by Hitech Construction Company Limited under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Works.
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