The governor said  the construction of the bridge would commence in the first quarter of 2024, “by the end of March or April.”

He spoke at the Lagos West Senatorial District Town Hall Meeting held at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja.

Sanwo-Olu noted that the bridge would  be constructed and opened for use in phases, while stating that extensive work had already been done towards the commencement of the construction.

He said, “You cannot get a new road without needing to do a bit of discomfort. But we will ensure that we compensate everybody that their property or their businesses will be disturbed by this new construction. But it’s going to be along existing corridors.

“So, there will be a few buildings that will be touched. But I want to assure you that not only will the landlord be paid full compensation, but places we have tenants as well, we will ensure that we also compensate them. And we will ensure that nobody is unduly taken advantage of.”

On when the construction of the much-awaited bridge would start, the governor said, “We’ve done extensive work on the bridge. But we are at the crossroads of where to get the real financing for that kind of project. We’ll need to be very very creative, but we thank God because we have reached the last final dot of the construction. Our commitment is that within this first quarter, meaning that by the end of March or April, we should break the ground to start the construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge.”

The Fourth Mainland Bridge is a 38km-long bridge project by the Lagos State Government, connecting Lagos Island by way of Langbasa (Lekki) and Baiyeku (Ikorodu) across the Lagos Lagoon to Itamaga, in Ikorodu. The bridge is a 2 x 4 lane carriageway cross-sectional road with permission for Bus Rapid Transit Lane and future road contraction.

Meanwhile, Sanwo-Olu said the Lagos Red Line rail would be unveiled in February, adding that the state government had written officially to President Bola Tinubu to invite him for the unveiling of the rail line.

“Our Red Line rail will be unveiled in February. In fact, we have written officially to Mr President to come and help us unveil it in February this year,” Sanwo-Olu said.

The Red Line rail is a 37-kilometre North-South rail route that will run from Agbado to Marina with 13 stations at Agbado, Iju, Agege, Ikeja, Murtala Muhammed International Airport International Wing, MMIA Domestic, Oshodi, Mushin, Yaba, Ebute Metta, Iddo, Ebute Ero and Marina.

In a speech delivered on Thursday when some leaders of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights visited him in Lagos, Falana said, “Pursuant to the Tribunals of Inquiry Law, Laws of Lagos State, 2015, the Justice Doris Okuwobi Commission of Enquiry was instituted by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, last year to probe allegations of police brutality in the State.

“Upon the conclusion of the assignment last week, the commission submitted ‘a full report in writing of its proceedings, findings and recommendations, records, opinions, and reasons leading to its conclusions’ in line with Section 15(1) of the Law. Thereafter, the governor set up a four-member committee of cabinet members headed by the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), to advise him with respect to the position of the Government which will be contained in a White Paper. We are not unaware of the purported rejection of the report of the commission by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, and the pressure on the White Paper Committee by some anti-democratic forces to advise the governor to jettison the findings and recommendations of the commission. Since the White Paper Committee is not known to the law, its members are not competent to edit, modify, alter, edit or reject the report of the Commission. More so, that the members of the White Paper Committee did not have the opportunity of taking evidence from the witnesses who had testified before the Commission. Having regard to the letter and spirit of the Tribunal of Enquiry Law, it is submitted that the Federal Government lacks the legal competence to reject the report of a panel of enquiry duly constituted by the Lagos State Government. Therefore, Governor Sanwo-Olu should not hesitate to reject the gratuitous call for the rejection of the report of the Lagos Judicial Commission by Mr Lai Mohammed. Once a White Paper is issued by the governor on the recommendations, the institutions and individuals indicted by the commission may wish to approach the High Court to challenge any aspect of the report.”

The Governor made the call on Tuesday during the 2019 ”Walk to Commit and Act” rally at Ikeja, organised by the State’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT), in conjunction with Nigerian Bar Association, Ikorodu Branch.

Sanwo-Olu said that reporting cases of violence to relevant authorities for justice would help to curb its occurrence in the state, noting that Lagos State was committed to the United Nations Conventions on Domestic and Sexual Violence, hence, the state’s zero tolerance to all forms of violence against the residents.

According to him, government will wield ”the big stick” on perpetrators of rape, domestic violence and child abuse in the state.

He said that the state would support the police and the judiciary to ensure the crime was brought to the barest minimum.

The governor warned that no offender would go unpunished, as rape, domestic violence and child abuse were crimes and must be treated as such.

He said, “Lagos state government through the Ministry of Justice and other arms of the government, deem it fit that we need to have this walk to further confirm and to indicate our full support for advocacy around the talk of child abuse.

“The walk is an advocacy around rape against women and girl, the talk around domestic violence, sexual violence and all other vices that are around abuse of children.

“Our government by this walk confirms that we are totally against it, we stand against everything about this issue and we are going to ensure that we have zero tolerance against it.

“It is a crime against humanity. When you are caught in the act of sexual violence, child abuse, domestic violence, you will be made to pay dearly for your crime.

“So, we are using this advocacy to warn and to tell people to desist because the full arm of law will be brought to bear on anybody or institution found wanting in any form.”

“It is about time we lived in a civil society and we need to end and ensure that people end the silence.

“Come forth if anything happens, speak up, and you can be rest assured that you will be protected and the government will take up your issue.

“For people that have been all shut out that don’t know who or how to go about it, we have phone numbers that you can call. You can call our 112 or you can call the toll free number which is 08137960048.

“You can also send your text to 6820. Be rest assured that somebody is on the other side that will pick up your case, and we will see to it that justice is served in anyway where we found anybody culpable.”