Ogun moves to decongest Lagos-Ibadan expressway, gives 21-day ultimatum to truck owners

Apparently worried by menace of abandoned articulated vehicles and indiscriminate parking of trucks in a trailers’ park at Ogere end of Lagos-Ibadan expressway which usually causes heavy gridlocks at the busiest expressway in the West Africa, the Ogun state government has given owners and drivers of abandoned trucks a 21-day ultimatum to remove the vehicles.

The 21-day ultimatum came against the backdrop of incessant gridlocks and insecurity along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, saying the measures were taken, not only to ensure free flow of traffic along the expressway, but also to decongest vehicles and human clusters around the area, thereby, preventing indiscriminate detonation of explosives around the area.

Giving the directive which ends on September 30 at a stakeholders and security meeting held on Wednesday at Gateway Trailers’ Park, Ogere in Ikenne Local Government Area, Governor Ibikunle Amosun declared that the government would swoop on erring drivers and owners of trucks that abandon and park indiscriminately in the park or on Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

Governor Amosun, who was represented by Olaayo Ogunsolu, general manager, Ogun State Parks and Garages Development Board, stressed the need for truck and vehicle owners to be security-conscious by calling the relevant agencies whenever they observe strange objects in and outside the park, and even along the expressway.

“We should all be security conscious, all efforts must be geared towards keeping vigil on all strange movements within the park. You should not hesitate to report any strange movement or objects to relevant agency,” the Governor advised.

Also speaking, Omiwole Tunde, the representative of the Ogun state commissioner of Police, urged transport unions in the park to maintain clean environment and give support to the security personnel in the area.

The Unit Commander, OP MESA, Ogere, Alhassan Ibrahim, also charged transport unions in the park to devise a way of screening their passengers, saying anybody found bringing illegal immigrants to the state would be dealt with accordingly.

He also cautioned all Petroleum Tanker and other truck drivers to stop using their haulage vehicle to bring in people with questionable characters to the State.
Present at the meeting were the representatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Petroleum Trailer Drivers (PTD) and Seriki, Hausa Community, Alhaji Abdullai Abubakar.