Motorists, commuters groan in gridlock as APC holds rally

Chaos yesterday characterized traffic situation in the Lagos metropolis as civil service, business and sundry activities picked up after the yuletide festivities. Eko Trust reports that the traffic situation was worsened by the flag- off of campaign by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, which held at the Ikeja GRA. The event triggered massive […]

Chaos yesterday characterized traffic situation in the Lagos metropolis as civil service, business and sundry activities picked up after the yuletide festivities.

Eko Trust reports that the traffic situation was worsened by the flag- off of campaign by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, which held at the Ikeja GRA. The event triggered massive gridlock in the Lagos metropolis, with the Ikeja axis badly affected.

All roads leading to the Ikeja GRA from the Ikeja Under-Bridge end of Obafemi Awolowo Way, as well as other adjoining roads like Oba Akran, Computer Village, Medical Road, Agege Motor Road, Airport Road, Joel Ogunnaike and Oba Akinjob suffered a gridlock for many hours.

Scores of campaign vehicles, mostly LAGBUS and commercial buses, which conveyed party supporters to the venue of the rally, were parked on the main roads.

Commercial tricycle operators plying the Ikeja GRA routes had to suspend operations because of the shutdown of Oba Akinjobi Way and other connected roads, with hundreds of commuters stranded.

Many passengers who had one thing or the other to do inside the GRA resorted to trekking.

Our correspondent, who took a walk from the Ikeja Under-bridge to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), observed that many passengers going to the GRA formed a huge crowd along the hospital road waiting for hours to board commercial tricycles to their destinations.

However, none of the tricycles was on sight as campaign vehicles took over the whole stretch of the road up to the High Court premises and the Police College, Ikeja.

One of the tricycle riders, who had parked at a Conoil filling station opposite LASUTH, later came over to invite passengers going to GRA to board his vehicle.

However, instead of the usual N100 fare to any part of GRA from Conoil, the passengers were made to cough out N200 each.

The tricycle rider, who identified himself as Sunday, explained to Eko Trust that he decided to charge N200 per passenger because the normal route into the GRA had been shut down and he would have to take a longer route.

“I will have to go through Mobolaji Bank Anthony to get to the GRA; you can see that is a much longer route,” he said, adding that other tricycle operators had decided to park their ‘keke’ because of the gridlock.

A middle-aged female civil servant told our correspondent that a traffic advisory should have been issued by the state government to allow people plan their movements yesterday.

“There was no information on radio or television about the campaign activities. Considering the nature of Lagos as a huge traffic zone, any activity would naturally lead to a total shutdown. I am coming from Mowe; if not because I have a verification somewhere in Ikeja GRA, I wouldn’t have come. Next time, when they are holding their rally, they should inform people well ahead on radio so that we can plan our movement,” the woman, who said she trekked from the Ikeja Under-Bridge to the GRA, a distance of about one kilometre, said.