Xmas: Travellers trapped on Abuja-Lokoja highway

Many passengers travelling to the Southern and Eastern part of the country from the Abuja axis for the Christmas and New Year festivities were on Saturday and Sunday trapped for several hours in a gridlock on the Abuja-Lokoja highway. Our reporter who was at the scene on Saturday morning till Sunday afternoon, observed that there […]

Many passengers travelling to the Southern and Eastern part of the country from the Abuja axis for the Christmas and New Year festivities were on Saturday and Sunday trapped for several hours in a gridlock on the Abuja-Lokoja highway.

Our reporter who was at the scene on Saturday morning till Sunday afternoon, observed that there was heavy traffic between Akpogu and Okpaka communities, down to Koton-Karfe.

Motorists coming the Abuja axis were forced to use a single lane due to the blockade of the second lane as a result of ongoing dualisation of the section.

Meanwhile, a gridlock occurred after some trailers broke down on the single lane, thereby forcing some vehicles to maneuver their way through the bush.

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Some travellers who spoke with our reporter at the scene blamed the construction firm over the slow pace of work on the highway, saying the dualisation had been going on for over a year without any progress.

Mr Alfred Nwajuba, a commercial driver, who was conveying passengers from Abuja to Enugu, said “I have been in this holdup for over four hours since I left Zuba Motor Park in Abuja as the single lane has been blocked and there is no alternative route for motorists to pass.”

Another motorist, Emeka Chibuke, who said he loaded passengers at the Jabi Motor Park, Abuja, travelling to the East, blamed the holdup on some inpatient drivers that refused to maintain the single lane.

A traveler, Mrs Patricia Emmanuel, who disclosed that she was travelling to the East with five of her children in a commercial vehicle, said she left Suleja in Niger State on Saturday and found herself in the gridlock, which she attributed to blockage of one lane on the highway.

Our reporter observed some security escorts also held in the gridlock trying to create a way for vehicles to pass, while some officials of the FRSC were also making efforts to clear obstruction caused by the trailers.

Attempts to speak with the workers of the construction firm were futile as no worker was on site.