A tanker accident that resulted in a fire got thousands of motorists and commuters stranded on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Wednesday.
The accident occurred in Ibafo, but caused a gridlock that extended several kilometers right and left of the road.
Our correspondent observed that the incident made it double hassles for the road users who had earlier suffered in traffic as occasioned by the partial shutdown in the Berger end where construction has peaked.
The News Agency of Nigeria, who also monitored monitored the traffic situation reports that the tankers loaded with diesel fell and caused heavy traffic on the ever-busy road.
The standstill from the scene of the accident reached Kara bridge inward Berger in Lagos State.
The gridlock was compounded by road diversion by the Berger Construction Company to allow reconstruction of the expressway from Kara Bridge inward Berger.
Many vehicles were seen leaving the main road for the sides to beat the gridlock.
Many drivers and commuters were also seen alighting from their vehicles, complaining and trekking down to the scene of the accident.
Some of the motorists and commuters,said that they had spent hours in the gridlock.
An Ilorin-bound commuter, Mrs Odunayo Daniel, said that the gridlock had not only wasted her time but also brought discomfort.
“This (gridlock) is second to none. I am tired of this journey. We have wasted about three hours.
“Worse still, our bus driver left the road and started plying sides which are very rough.
“My children are fed up with the heat. This little girl I am carrying is not comfortable again.
“We left Iyana-Ipaja at few minutes to 11.00a.m. but we are still at Ibafo; it is really serious,’’ the nursing mother said.
Another passenger, Mrs Nike Adebayo also going to Ilorin, said that the heat caused by the gridlock had affected her daughter.
Adebayo said: “I was not expecting this at all. My daughter is vomiting now because of the heat. I am not happy at all.
“If there is any breakdown or accident on the road, I expect the authorities designated to intervene fast,’’ he said.
Another commuter, who gave her name simply as Iya Adura, said: “I should be getting close to Ibadan by now, I am still in Lagos at 2:00p.m. We have suffered much on this road today.’’
A motorist going to Ibadan, Mr Saheed Akinlaja, said that the gridlock had wasted his time and fuel.
Akinlaja, driving a fully loaded 18-seat bus, said that he had spent more than the hours to travel to and from Ibadan in the gridlock.
Mr Taiwo Akanji, an Ilorin-bound 18-seat commercial bus driver, told NAN that the gridlock had made him frustrated.
Akanji, however, lauded traffic managers at the scene for efforts to restore nomalcy.
A personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) who preferred anonymity, told NAN that traffic had been moving well before the accident.
He said that the FRSC and other relevant agencies had removed one of the tankers and were working to evacuate the other.
“Traffic has been moving since morning until two trucks fell. We have removed one to the roadside and about to evacuate the second one.
“The traffic will soon be moving,’’ he said.
According to report, residents of Ibafo were seen scooping diesel at the scene.
Before NAN correspondent got to the scene of the accident, a tow truck had pushed and of the tanker to a side of the road and had started towing the other one away under the watch of the police and FRSC personnel.
