Festac Town, Mile-2, Okota & Entire Amuwo-Odofin residents have been trown into terrible days as Trucks & Tankers Seize Control Of Mile-2 / Apapa Expressway
The Menace of truck drivers on Oshodi-Mile2-Apapa expressway has become a continuous thorn on the flesh of residents, commuters on that axis.
In the last five days, the Trucks took over the major roads unlike before where they parked on the inner roads. it has been a major spectacle on the Mile 2 axis.
This has become a huge concern for residents and commuters in the Festac / Amuwo Axis and environs.
Festaconline has analysed the effect of this consistent Apapa-Mile2 Gridlock & On Festac Residents
They are exposed to unnecessary security concerns as high incidence of robbery and other forms of criminal activities currently going on in the area.
This act has triggered traffic snarl, a resident living in Mile-2 Estate lamented
We thought we had seen the last of this tankers until few days ago when i woke up to see that they had taken over the expressway.
It took me two hours to move from just second rainbow to the mile2 bridge
These Apapa Port-bound articulated vehicles & tankers have seized the entire Oshodi/Apapa express way, denying other motorists access to highway and service lane.
Asides from security concerns, the drivers while they parked, they defecated, urinated and had their bathe, in some cases, on the stretch that covers over five kilometers, leading to the sea port.
On Wednesday, there was a report of a woman who lost her three-month old baby on traffic as a result of suffocation.
It takes commercial buses and private cars virtually half the day to beat the traffic jam to get to Apapa ports as they manoeuvre through the lone lane left for them to use.
The congestion stretches many metres with some trucks heading to the Apapa ports to freight consignments stuck on the queue for as many as four days before they can access the facility.
Earlier last week The gridlock on the route which seemed to have abated for about a week, owing to the directive by the Navy for trucks to vacate all bridges in state, returned, thereby throwing motorists into another round of horrific experience.
According to Daily Trust many trucks were observed at the Barracks, Costain, Eko Idumota, Ijora and Mile 2 areas still occupying the bridges and roads.
Many drivers were seen taking a nap in their trucks while some use the under of their vehicles as “restrooms.”
The drivers, speaking to personnel from Daily Trust lamented how equally unhappy they are with the current situation, and ordering them to vacate bridges and roads was not an option.
One of them, Christopher Alonge, blamed the present situation on congestion at the port and government’s failure to develop other ports across the country. Reminded of the deadline, the driver replied,
“I have been here for almost a week. You don’t expect me to go back. We are having problems with the area boys and because of that some of us were forced to arm ourselves with cutlasses and even charms to scare away hoodlums.”
Also, Ogbonnaya James, who said he had been on the queue for four days, said drivers can only leave the bridge when the authorities decide to close the port. James even accused some security officials implementing the quit order of extortion.
Another driver, Mashood Rafiu said
“I left Ibafo six days ago and we were told that government want us to leave, but I doubt if this is possible. We are also looking for a means of livelihood.
“We pay all these security agencies before we could gain access to the port; all the trucks on the bridge bribe their way to that place. We spend close to N20, 000 to settle the security people before we get to the Area B side.
Also, while on queue we pay ‘parking fees’ to area boys. We only appeal to the government to take it easy with us until all the roads leading to Apapa are fixed.”
Giving another perspective to the current challenge, another driver, Muhammed Jamiu, said the traffic gridlock exacerbated and trailers piled up on the road because one of the terminal operators in the port which was expected to clear over 1000 trucks daily was doing only 100.
“But instead of managing the traffic, the security agencies take advantage of the problem to extort us. With N30, 000, you can find your way to Apapa from here [Costain]”, he said, adding, “We are also not happy with this development, we are all family men but we are stuck here.”
The situation is such a horrible one which is leading to breakdown of law and order as motorists, particularly, commercial buses, popularly called, “Danfo” have resorted to driving against traffic.
And also Motorbikes on the other hand, were the only alternative of transportation risking lives of commuters on this route.
Do you ply this route ? what is your experience so far ?
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