For several hours, commuters on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway were held up in a traffic jam unprecedented in the history of the road.
The blizzard which occurred in Lagos in the early hours of Monday morning destroying properties and causing much floods only worsened the traffic in that area, thereby leading to a grid-lock.
The Lagos-Ibadan road has been under construction for months, and work on the road is still on-going.
Reports say the downpour, coupled with ongoing construction works and an early morning multiple accidents, which left many injured, recorded at the Magboro end of the road worsened the traffic situation.
Due to the log jam, many people were unable to make it to their places of work and respective destinations. Some had to give up after several hours on the traffic. Commuters were seen trekking to their destinations, even as very few transporters were on the road. Many transport owners refused to put their vehicles on the road.
Some commuters, eager to arrive at their offices in time, resorted to joining the motor cycle, at a much greater risk to arrive at their destinations. The situation was compounded by motorists driving against the traffic, in a bid to beat the traffic.
As at noon, the traffic on the Lagos-bound lane stretched from after the Long Bridge to the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry in the Magboro area.
Since the construction work on the road began some months ago, motorists and commuters have been subjected to untold hardship.
A commuter who takes that rod often to work and back, Niru Apata, blamed the government for the slow pace of work on the road. According to him. “government, knowing how vital the road is, ought to expedite action on the on-going work there.” He said, “the construction on that road has dragged on for far too long,” adding that government should give the contractors a time frame within which all work should be completed on that road to ease the pains of the masses.
Nike Bamidele, another commuter who travels on the road often called on relevant agencies to be on top of their job and prosecute those who violate the traffic rules, especially those motorists driving against the traffic.