MOTORISTS and commuters on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Wednesday recounted harrowing experiences as a fresh multiple-vehicle crash at Otedola Bridge compounded the gridlock triggered by Tuesday’s accident at Kara Bridge.
The latest crash, involving three trucks, occurred on Wednesday morning at Ot-edola, inward Berger, Lagos State, leaving the carriageway impassable and worsening an already chaotic traffic situation.
Three persons were reportedly rescued alive, while another person remained trapped for hours as rescue operations continued at the scene.
For many commuters, however, the accident was only the latest development in a traffic crisis that had already kept hundreds of motorists and passengers stranded for several hours.
Some motorists said they spent between 10 and 12 hours on the road, while others abandoned their vehicles or resorted to trekking and commercial motorcycles to reach their destinations.
A resident of Ibafo who works in Ojota, Chega Olubo-dun, said he spent more than six hours travelling from Ojotato Berger on Tuesday and did not arrive home until midnight.
“I spent nothing less than six hours in the traffic from Ojotato Berger yesterday. I did not get home until 12 midnight,” he said.
Olubodun said the situation became worse on Wednesday morning when the traffic extended beyond Magboro.
He said he eventually turned back home after realising that reaching his workplace would be difficult.
“I have taken photographs and recorded video of the gridlock and sent them to my boss to see the reason why I couldn’t make it to the office this morning,” he said.
Another commuter, who identified herself simply as Oge-chi, said her ordeal lasted until about 2 am on Wednesday.
According to her, she trekked from Ojota to Warewa on the Ogun State axis after the commercial bus conveying her made a U-turn around the Ot-edola underpass.
She alleged that passengers were asked to disembark, while the conductor disappeared with their transport fares instead of refunding them.
For Olufemi, another commuter, the only way to escape the gridlock was to resort to a commercial motorcycle.
He said he paid N4,000 to travel from New Garage bus stop at Berger to Mowe, Ogun State, because vehicles were unable to move through the expressway.
Olufemi said many motorists spent the night on the road as the accident and its aftermath brought movement to a standstill.
He added that one of his colleagues did not get home until about 5 am.
By Wednesday morning, he said, the gridlock had already built up on both sides of the expressway, making movement to work extremely difficult.
The fresh Otedola crash came barely a day after a multiple-vehicle accident at Kara Bridge involving seven vehicles disrupted traffic towards Ogun State.
The resulting congestion stretched beyond the Long Bridge towards Magboro and into Lagos, with the spillover affecting inner routes, including the Ogba-Agege corridor.
At Berger, hundreds of passengers were reportedly stranded as commercial buses struggled to reach the popular transport hub.
Some commuters abandoned their journeys, while others walked considerable distances to connect with alternative means of transportation.
The Lagos Sector Commander of the Federal Road
Safety Corps, FRSC, CC Kehinde Hamzat, had attributed part of the worsening traffic situation to motorists’ impatience, driving against traffic and lane hopping.
Speaking during a radio interview, Hamzat said attempts by motorists to beat the congestion through illegal manoeuvres, particularly around the OPIC turning and Otedola area, complicated the situation.
He said the FRSC, police, military, TRACE, LASTMA and other traffic management personnel had been deployed to critical points along the corridor to restore movement.
Hamzat said the agencies were working towards resolving the congestion within three to four hours, while urging motorists to use alternative routes to avoid the affected corridor.
He also appealed to motorists to obey traffic regulations and refrain from driving against traffic or jumping lanes.
Meanwhile, rescue operations at the Otedola crash scene continued as traffic managers battled to clear the latest obstruction and restore movement along the strategicLagos-Ibadan corridor.
For the commuters who spent Tuesday night and Wednesday morning trapped on the expressway, the accidents have turned what should ordinarily be routine journeys into prolonged ordeals.