Every day, thousands of motorists, commercial bus drivers and commuters travel along the Apapa-Oworonshoki Expressway, one of Lagos’ busiest transport corridors. For many, the journey is defined by slow-moving traffic and the endless stream of trucks travelling to and from Nigeria’s busiest seaports.
Hidden beneath that daily movement, however, is a problem many road users never notice.
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Along several stretches of the expressway, drainage channels meant to carry run-off water are clogged with plastic bottles, nylon bags, food packs and other refuse.
In many places, the waste has almost buried the drains, leaving stagnant water trapped beneath it. During a visit to the area on Friday and on Monday, PREMIUM TIMES also observed human excreta in parts of the drainage, adding another layer to the environmental and public health concerns.
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For people who spend their days along the expressway, the scenes are all too familiar.
Naomi Eke, who sells roasted corn by the roadside, laughed when PREMIUM TIMES pointed to the faeces in one of the drainage channels.
“This is not new,” she said in Pidgin. “We’ve been seeing it for years. At night, some drivers and other people passing through this road defecate inside the drainage because nobody is watching or arresting anyone.”
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She explained that traders have learned to live with the offensive odour and unsanitary conditions, even though they remain a daily source of discomfort.
A commercial bus (danfo) driver who identified himself simply as Suraj gave a similar account. He alleged that some residents and street urchins, popularly known as agberos, also use the drainage as an open toilet, particularly after dark.
“Some people living around here and some agberos see the gutter as their toilet,” he noted. “When they are pressed, especially at night, they come here. It’s been happening for a long time, so people have become used to seeing it.”
PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify who was responsible for the human waste found in the drainage. But, undoubtedly, it highlights one of the persistent black spots as the state government scrambles to end open defeacation by 2030.
Accounts from traders and motorists who use the corridor daily suggest that open defecation has become a recurring problem along sections of the expressway, compounding the environmental challenges posed by indiscriminate waste disposal.
The blocked drains raise concerns that go beyond the unpleasant sight. Environmental experts have consistently warned that drainage channels clogged with waste impede the free flow of rainwater, increase the risk of flooding and create breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other disease-carrying pests.
The Apapa-Oworonshoki Expressway is one of Lagos’ most strategic roads, linking Apapa, home to Nigeria’s busiest ports, with other parts of the city. Yet much of what lies inside its drainage system remains hidden from the thousands of people who use the corridor every day.
During visits to the area on Friday (3 July) and Monday (today), PREMIUM TIMES took some photographs that capture some of the scenes observed.
The conditions observed along the Apapa-Oworonshoki Expressway reinforce findings from an earlier PREMIUM TIMES investigation into Lagos’ worsening waste crisis.
Reaction
Responding to PREMIUM TIMES’ findings, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Muyiwa Gbadegesin, said the agency was not immediately aware of the condition of the drainage channels along the Apapa-Oworonshoki Expressway.
He explained that the accumulation of waste could be linked to refuse washed into the drainage from nearby communities but requested the exact location to enable the agency to intervene.
“It’s possible that the waste is washing out from some communities where they’re dumping into the drainage. But if you give me the exact location, I’ll be able to do an intervention to clear it up,” he told PREMIUM TIMES during a telephone interview on Monday.
After PREMIUM TIMES identified the affected stretch near the Bono fuel depot in Apapa and informed him that human faeces were also found in parts of the drainage, Mr Gbadegesin stressed that the agency would investigate the area and take enforcement action.
“We’ll send a team to go and investigate and do enforcement there,” he said, adding that “Open defecation is against the law in Lagos.”
The commitment comes weeks after the Lagos State Government acknowledged the broader waste management challenges confronting the state.
In June, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, apologised to residents over the worsening waste situation, assuring them that the government was implementing measures to improve refuse collection and environmental sanitation.
“We had a challenge and we are fixing it,” Mr Wahab stated after a PREMIUM TIMES special report documented how mounting heaps of refuse had overwhelmed major roads, markets and residential communities across Lagos, raising concerns about environmental sanitation and public health.
Persistent malaise
The investigation found that irregular waste collection, rising operating costs for waste contractors, overstretched disposal facilities and indiscriminate dumping have contributed to refuse accumulating on roads, medians, drainage channels and other public spaces across the state. The findings prompted Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to direct the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources to intensify waste evacuation across Lagos.
Despite those efforts, the drainage channels along parts of the Apapa-Oworonshoki Expressway remain clogged with refuse, stagnant water and, in some places, human excreta, suggesting that the challenge extends beyond periodic clean-up exercises.
Lagos, a city of more than 22 million people, generates an estimated 13,000 tonnes of waste every day. According to a 2024 World Bank assessment, only about 54 per cent of that waste is disposed of through the formal waste management system, leaving the rest to end up in drainage channels, roadsides, waterways and illegal dumpsites.
The World Bank warns that blocked drainage channels increase the risk of flooding, particularly during the rainy season, while the World Health Organisation says poor waste management contributes to environmental pollution and creates conditions that encourage the spread of diseases such as cholera and mosquito-borne infections.
For most commuters, the clogged drains remain hidden behind concrete barriers and slow-moving traffic. But as the rains continue, what lies beneath the expressway serves as a reminder that Lagos’ waste challenge is not confined to overflowing dumpsites. It is also playing out inside the drainage channels designed to protect the city from flooding.
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