Gridlock returns to Apapa as trailer drivers call-off strike
motorists want taskforce to persevere
Traffic gridlock is returning to Apapa, Nigeria’s premier port city, a few days after trailer drivers suspended their strike.
Trailer drivers and owners under the under aegis of Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) suspended their strike on Friday. The strike was in protest of the new directive by Lagos State government barring trailers from plying the roads between the hours of 6am and 9pm.
The government’s directive was necessitated by the need to stop further carnage on the roads in the wake of the accident involving a container carrying truck which fell off the Ojeulegba Bridge in Surulere, three weeks ago, killing three persons.
The resumption of the operations of the trailers is already aggravating traffic into Apapa, as motorists at the weekend had herculean task trying to enter Apapa from the Island. The trailers took over the entire length of the Marine Bridge, connecting Apapa from Ijora, such that other motorists, who drove on to the bridge hoping to connect Apapa, were forced to standstill on the bridge.
It was also the same scenario on Sunday, as most of the vehicles heading for Apapa from the mainland and island, meandered through the bridge. Although a few of the Task Force officials could be seen on the bridge, the trailers failed to strictly observe the directive to queue up on one lane to allow other motorists access on other lanes on the bridge.
Motorists driving into Apapa from the Island on Sunday were forced to go down the Kirikiri exit and turn around, passing a one way route on the opposite side of the bridge in order to join traffic connecting to point road.
“I was on Apapa Bridge for over an hour trying to come down at the point road exit. The trailers and tankers blocked the two lanes and we had no choice but to reverse and drive against trafick on the out-going lane. The task force and police were on the road but they could not stop us from passing one way because they saw that we had no choice”, an angry driver told BusinessDay.
Meanwhile, motorists have called on the Lagos State government to strictly enforce its directive to the trailers to restrict their operations to the night hours.
Timothy Ekujeme, a motorist, who spoke with BusinessDay on Sunday, said the government must not allow itself to be intimidated by strike or threat by the trailers and back down on the enforcement of the law. “The lives of Lagosians are more important than whatever business the trailer drivers and trucks owners are involved in. The government must stand its ground.”
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had constituted a taskforce to ensure the flow of traffic into Apapa, and subsequently charged them to stay on roads and bridges leading to Apapa beyond conventional working hours, part of the reason being to ensure that hoodlums who usually take advantage of the gridlock to rob are checked, while the routes are free for motorists.