After over two years of respite from the perennial traffic congestion along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, container-laden articulated trucks and fuel tankers, yesterday, resurfaced around the Mile 2-Berger Yard axis, causing massive gridlock and obstructing vehicular movement after blocking access and adjoining roads.
The situation was worsened by indiscriminate parking on both sides of the road and reckless driving by truck drivers along the Mile 2-Tin Can corridor of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
Many commuters and other road users spent several hours on trips that ordinarily would have taken less than an hour, causing frustration among road users and commercial transport operators.
A journey of 4 minutes yesterday, took a journalist nearly 3 hours.
“From First Gate, Festac side, to the office, I spent two hours. That’s crazy. We were told there was road repair work ahead,” he said.
A commercial driver, who spoke anonymously, said he left Mile 2 around 1:20 p.m. but did not get to Apapa until almost 4 p.m.
“A journey that should ordinarily take less than an hour consumed nearly three hours,” he lamented.
Another commuter, Mrs. Kemi Adeyemi, said she spent over three hours trapped in traffic, adding: “The gridlock has been terrible today. Many people were forced to trek long distances to get to their destinations.”
One of the affected motorists, Mr. Lanre Akindele, urged authorities to address the situation before it returned to the chaotic experience residents and commuters had endured in the past.
“Just when we thought we had seen the end of the gridlock permanently on this axis, it has started rearing its ugly head again. It should be nipped in the bud before it snowballs into another intractable situation,” Akindele said.
Lagos talks tough:
Reacting to the development, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, swung into action to restore traffic flow and, subsequently, evacuated several trucks from the road, issuing a stern warning to operators to stay off access roads and maintain a single lane.
The second-in-command at LASTMA and former Director of Operations, Peter Gbejemede, condemned the resurgence of indiscriminate parking by petroleum tankers on the highway, assuring residents that the agency was committed to ensuring seamless traffic movement along the corridor.
He said: “We have engaged the leadership of truck operators on the need to keep the corridor free or face severe consequences and sanctions.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the indiscriminate parking is linked to the activities of union agents at depot gates, who collect fees from each tanker before granting access into the depots.
“The backlog created by this process is what led to the indiscriminate parking. We are on top of the situation and necessary actions are being taken to restore sanity.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Olohundare Jimoh, was said to have ordered the immediate dismantling of illegal checkpoints mounted by police teams and other agencies along Apapa port access roads.
At least five police officers, whose names were withheld, were reportedly arrested during an enforcement operation carried out by a special task force deployed through the Area B Command.
NUPENG gives reasons:
Reacting to the development, an official of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, blamed the surge in truck traffic on the aftermath of the Sallah holidays, explaining that Lagos, being the major fuel distribution hub, had attracted tanker drivers from different parts of the country.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, however clarified that while NUPENG controls members of its Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, branch, it has no control over containerised and articulated truck operators.
He said: “We can discipline our PTD members, whom we have consistently advised to obey traffic regulations, but we have no control over other truck drivers.
“We are not ruling out the possibility that some of our members, who came from the far North and other parts of the country may not fully understand the Lagos traffic environment and could follow other truck drivers to park indiscriminately. However, we always sanction any erring member caught by our monitoring team.”
He appealed to security agencies and other authorities to ensure orderliness and ease traffic flow to prevent commuters and road users from suffering unnecessarily.
Terminals filled up, says AMATO
Also reacting, Secretary-General of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners, AMATO, Mohammed Bala, attributed the congestion to the influx of trucks into port terminals after the Sallah celebrations.
According to him, terminals, especially APM Terminals, are currently operating at full capacity.
He said: “Because of the festival celebrated last week, there has been a massive influx of trucks heading to the terminals. I contacted APMT and they informed me that the terminal is already filled up.
“They are admitting trucks gradually as space becomes available, but the traffic situation will soon ease.”
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