Motorists and commuters were stranded for more than three hours on Sunday following a traffic gridlock between Ovia Bridge and Okada Junction along the Lagos-Benin Expressway in Edo State.
The congestion, which occurred in the early hours of the day, left several road users struggling to reach their destinations, with articulated trucks accounting for a large number of the vehicles caught in the traffic.
According to reports, some motorists had departed Benin early in the morning in a bid to arrive at their destinations on time.
However, vehicle breakdowns and an accident along the route worsened the situation, while indiscriminate roadside parking and impatience among drivers further contributed to the gridlock.
Some motorists identified the Okada axis, particularly a damaged section of the road near Tipper Garage, as a recurring traffic bottleneck.
A driver identified as Akanni blamed some of his colleagues for contributing to the congestion by parking along the roadside to sleep instead of resuming their journeys promptly.
He expressed concern over the failure of some drivers to observe the rules guiding their profession.
Another driver, Chukwu, said he had learnt of a traffic jam around Ovia Bridge at about 2am and decided to rest at a bypass near Oluku.
He said he was surprised to encounter another gridlock after passing through the Ovia Bridge section without difficulty.
Chukwu blamed the situation partly on inadequate enforcement of traffic regulations and called on government agencies, particularly the Federal Road Safety Corps, to ensure compliance with road safety rules.
He also appealed to the Edo State Government to repair the damaged section near Okada to improve vehicular and pedestrian movement.
“Everything boils down to the government. Their agencies must enforce the law, while the repair of the bad portion of the road should also be done,” he said.
The situation was further aggravated when some motorists drove against traffic in an attempt to escape the congestion, thereby obstructing other road users.
The Edo State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Preye Bedford, said the corps regularly deployed personnel to the affected area to manage traffic and respond to incidents, including accidents and vehicle breakdowns.
Bedford explained that officers were not permanently stationed along the stretch but were sent to the location periodically and whenever reports of incidents required intervention.
He urged motorists to exercise patience and obey traffic regulations to prevent avoidable congestion and ensure the smooth movement of vehicles along the busy highway.
