Motorists and commuters travelling along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway were stranded for more than 14 hours on Tuesday following a multiple-vehicle crash at the Kara Bridge, worsened by ongoing repair works on the major highway.
The crash, which occurred in the early hours of the day, involved seven vehicles and initially disrupted traffic towards Ogun State. The resulting congestion later spread beyond the Long Bridge towards Magboro and extended into Lagos.
The situation became worse when some frustrated motorists resorted to driving against traffic in an attempt to escape the gridlock, creating another major obstruction for vehicles heading towards Lagos.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said its LRT Tiger Squad stationed at C3 was dispatched to the scene at 6:05am following a distress call and arrived within the expected response time.
According to LASEMA Permanent Secretary, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, the vehicles involved included a 40-foot container truck without a registration number, Toyota Hilux, interstate bus, Hyundai Odyssey, Sienna, Toyota Highlander and Mitsubishi Hilux.
Oke-Osanyintolu said preliminary findings indicated that the container truck developed a mechanical fault while in motion, causing its driver to lose control and ram into the other six vehicles.
He said LASEMA activated its incident management protocol and worked with the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and the Nigeria Police Force to manage the situation and prevent further crashes.
“Private towing trucks were deployed to support the recovery operation, while all the affected vehicles were eventually removed from the carriageway to the roadside. Fortunately, no loss of life or injury was recorded in the incident,” he said.
The recovered vehicles were handed over to the police for documentation and further necessary action, while LASTMA officials remained at the scene to facilitate the restoration of traffic.
However, before the vehicles were cleared, the gridlock had already worsened as some motorists began driving against traffic.
A motorist identified as Jude said vehicles taking the one-way route eventually occupied three lanes, leaving only one lane for motorists travelling towards Lagos.
Another motorist said he spent more than five hours trapped in the traffic and missed an appointment.
“I ran into the traffic around 11am, and I am still here. I was scheduled for an appointment but could no longer meet up,” he said.
Although the removal of the crashed vehicles later eased traffic around Kara Bridge, motorists who had driven against traffic created another bottleneck around the OPIC end of the road while attempting to reconnect with the proper lane.
A traffic official, who spoke anonymously, blamed the fresh obstruction on motorists who had taken the one-way route.
“The influx of vehicles taking one-way when the crash happened had blocked vehicles coming into Lagos in the process of connecting back to their lane at OPIC. That is what has caused the serious traffic you see now,” the official said.
By 5pm, the gridlock had stretched beyond the Long Bridge towards Magboro, leaving commuters stranded for several hours. By 7pm, checks showed that the congestion had extended towards Iyana-Oworo in Lagos, with slow movement also recorded on the Third Mainland Bridge.
LASTMA spokesperson, Adebayo Taofiq, said another accident at the Kara axis in the evening further compounded the situation.
“The traffic was because another accident happened this evening in the same area. LASTMA officers were there till this night,” he said.
The prolonged traffic also triggered a sharp increase in transport fares along affected routes.
Commuters travelling from Iyana-Oworo to Berger reportedly paid as much as N2,000, compared with the usual N500 to N700 fare, while fares from Iyana-Oworo to Mowe reportedly rose to N3,000 from about N1,200.
The traffic crisis occurred amid ongoing repairs on the Kara Bridge, where damaged expansion joints are being fixed.
The repair works have reduced available road space around the bridge, making the corridor more vulnerable to severe congestion whenever accidents, broken-down vehicles or other obstructions occur.
Motorists have raised concerns that the combination of construction activities and roadside obstructions could further increase safety risks and prolong travel time on the busy interstate route.
The spokesperson for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed that the crash had compounded the traffic situation.
“Our men, with other traffic officials, are managing the situation. Aside from the impatience on the part of drivers, which had resulted in the gridlock…” he said.
