One of my colleagues walked into the office one day, and the first thing he did was complain about the pedestrian bridge in Iyana-Ipaja. He had passed there that morning, and one could tell it was not a beautiful experience from his description.

He said he regretted ever stepping foot on the bridge that morning. I did not have a hard time believing him, but I never thought it was that bad until I saw it. One Friday morning in April, I went on an adventure.

I can count the number of times I have passed through Iyana-Ipaja in the past year. But there I was that morning, on a bus en route to Iyana-Ipaja.

Lagos passengers have not stopped shouting “owa” whenever the bus arrives at their destination, and conductors have not stopped calling out the names of bus stops. This they do so no one misses their way.

I kept reminding the conductor that I would alight in Iyana-Ipaja, because I was unfamiliar with the route. When the bus arrived in Iyana-Ipaja, I alighted and walked till I reached the foot of the bridge.

Before climbing the bridge’s stairs, I observed the environment. I had heard stories of people being robbed and assaulted on some pedestrian bridges in Lagos in broad daylight, and I did not want to be a part of the statistics.

Some men sat at the foot of the bridge. I walked past them and began climbing the stairs. A man who stood on the bridge and rested on the rails called out to get my attention. I thought he wanted to dissuade me from using the bridge and warn me of impending danger, but I was wrong.

When I got to the top of the bridge, I was welcomed by the ugliest and most disgusting sight my eyes had ever seen. Faeces everywhere! I hurriedly took pictures, made videos and ran down because I could not stomach the stench.

Below the bridge, pedestrians risked their lives to cross the busy road.

The first person I spoke with after descending the bridge said pedestrians had abandoned it.

“People no longer use the bridge, so don’t bother going there. Just cross the express. No one will catch you,” he said.

I understood why he told me no one would arrest me if I crossed the road without using the pedestrian bridge. In March, the Lagos State Taskforce began arresting pedestrians who refused to use pedestrian bridges while crossing highways across Lagos, but Iyana-Ipaja was left out.

I like to imagine what would happen if they began arresting pedestrians who refused to use the pedestrian bridge in Iyana-Ipaja.

Another person I spoke with said he did not have to use the bridge because he lived on that side of the road and had hardly ever crossed to the other side.

I went back to the foot of the bridge. There, I met a footwear vendor who was displaying his wares. I spoke to him about my experience on the bridge, and what he said corroborated what the other two people I spoke with had said.

However, I learned there was another reason pedestrians abandoned the bridge. He told me it was unsafe because thugs and miscreants usually rob people of their valuables on the bridge, even in broad daylight.

“They usually rob people on the bridge. If you want to pass there, you better hold your bag and phone tightly so those thugs do not rob you. Sometimes, we usually see dead bodies and blood on the bridge,” he said.

“People no longer pass there because it is unsafe, and that is why some people would go there at night to mess it up.”

The fourth person I spoke with was a POS agent, who told me it was true that the bridge was unsafe because of the activities of miscreants. When I asked him if it was true dead bodies were seen on the bridge occasionally, he said it was false.

“They do indeed rob pedestrians on the bridge, but it has not got to the point of finding dead bodies there. The person who told you that was exaggerating,” the POS agent said.

On my way back, I noticed another abandoned bridge close to Iyana-Ipaja. I wondered if the bridge suffered the same fate as the one I climbed.

I texted my friend, who lives around Iyana-Ipaja, to share my experiences and ask if she had had a similar experience.

“Is there even a pedestrian bridge at Iyana-Ipaja?” She asked. It occurred to her a minute later that there was indeed a pedestrian bridge, and she texted again. “Omoo, na true o.”

Her response made me wonder if other people, like her, frequent Iyana-Ipaja and are oblivious to the bridge’s existence.

A week later, I called the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) via the telephone number provided on their website to ask if the agency was responsible for making pedestrian bridges clean for use.

The customer care representative responded in the affirmative. Then, I went on to tell her about the ugly sight that welcomed me on the bridge. She apologised and said she would escalate my complaints to the appropriate quarter.

It has been a week since then, and the memory still haunts me.

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