Apapa roads: Chaos as motorcycle rider escapes death
There was confusion yesterday in Apapa as a truck carrying chemicals overturned on the bad portion of the Ijora-Apapa/Wharf road and trapped a motorcycle rider, who narrowly escaped death following rescue efforts by concerned Nigerians.
In response to the various failed portions of road in Apapa and environ, the Lagos State government yesterday said it had mobilised Juluis Berger plc to commence repair works on the bad portions leading to Apapa metropolis.
“We known the pains commuters are going through. We just finished a meeting with Julius Berger and we have told them to go to work on Liverpool Road, some parts of Wharf Road and some parts of Creek Road, all in Apapa. Take it from me, we are in the process of commencing palliative work there,” Ganiyu Johnson, Lagos State commissioner for works, said in a telephone interview with BuisnessDay.
The fortunate motorcycle rider got trapped in-between two trucks as he tried to manoeuvre his way through the gridlock that characterised Apapa metropolis over the last few weeks, as the situation of the roads leading to Apapa and Tin-Can Island Port worsen.
When BusinessDay visited the scene of the accident, many concerned Nigerians were seen putting efforts together to rescue the trapped Okada rider by discharging the content of the truck to be able to raise the truck. The victim was later taken away to hospital by an ambulance alive.
“Nigerians are dying every day on this bad, Ijoro-Apapa/Wharf road, because both federal and state government have refused to listen to the suffering of the people. The roads have been bad for months now and nobody is doing anything to repair it. Ijora-Apapa/Wharf road is bad, and Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, which is supposed to be an alternative route to the seaports, has been bad for years,” an Okada rider, who identified himself as Yusuf Umar, said.
Umar, who gave an eyewitness account of the incident, said the trapped rider was a victim of system failure, as people voted to represent them refused to account for the responsibility bestowed on them.
“The Okada rider tried to bypass the truck and he was trapped. He survived it but nobody knows who it will be tomorrow. It has been very difficult plying Apapa roads on daily basis,” Umar said.
“The bad state of the roads has been very challenging to port users and operators, who lose quality man-hour to traffic gridlock and left the greater part of shippers’ goods damaged while on transit from the port to their warehouses,” Tony Anakebe, a maritime analyst, said.
According to Anakebe, many families have lost their loved ones to pressure mounted on commuters and port users by the endless traffic gridlocks while the very unfortunate ones get killed by containers that upturned on transit due to gully and ditch on the port access road.