APAPA GRIDLOCK: Confusion as touts hijack traffic control

The chaotic traffic situation on the Oshodi-Apapa expressway got worse, yesterday, as road users were trapped in the gridlock for several hours, following indiscriminate parking of trucks along the ever-busy dual carriageway.

There was, however, a strong indication that the ongoing dual port access road reconstruction is responsible for the current chaotic gridlock in the area.

The reconstruction of the expressway excludes Section 2 of the contract, which begins at Sun Rise and ends at Cele.

However, this section has recently been awarded to Dangote Group, but work is yet to commence.

As a result of the gridlock, miscreants and touts, with different colours of reflective jackets, have taken over the control of traffic and using the situation to extort truckers trying to access the depots and the port.

The activities of these touts have further compounded the nightmare on the road as they allow truck and tanker drivers to park at any available space, thereby denying other road users access to their destinations.

The traffic build-up extended from the Berger Yard area beyond Ijesha Bus Stop along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway yesterday.

Motorists and commuters were in anguish as activities of truck and tanker drivers paralysed movement along the axis, despite the introduction of an electronic Call-Up System initiated by the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA.

The trucks had, on Monday, stormed the expressway and Ijora-Apapa highway, following a report that the e-Call up system could not accommodate all stakeholders and a crash of software, resulting in total gridlock.

The situation got worse as law enforcement agents abandoned traffic control to miscreants and officials of port unions.

It was observed that no official of the newly created Lagos State Special Traffic Management Enforcement Team was seen at the gridlock points.