Tankers seize Apapa-Oshodi Road

Motorists plying Apapa—Oshodi expressway literally went through hell, yesterday, spending hours in the traffic as fuel tankers waiting to load fuel at the tank farms in the area blocked the entire expressway. This was in spite the 72-hour ultimatum given to the tanker drivers on Sunday by the Lagos State Government to remove the vehicles from the highway or  be forcefully relocated.
The traffic which stretched several kilometres was very chaotic at Mile 2 and Julius Berger yard as there were no officials of Lagos State Transport Management Authority, LASTMA to restore sanity.
The state Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Kayode Opeifa, gave the ultimatum when he paid an on-the-spot assessment of the damage at the scene of the last Saturday’s tanker explosion at Mile 2 which claimed three lives and 36 vehicles

GRIDLOCK—The traffic gridlock at the Mile 2 end of Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Lagos ,yesterday. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

The gridlock started Monday night, following Julius Berger Plc’ blockade of the service lane, which connects motorists heading for Orile, as well as parking of a large number of petrol tankers which completely took over the entire service lane towards Apapa Port.
Consequently, some motorists got home as late as 1:00am yesterday, as those who could not navigate their way to Orile turned to drive one-way to Mile 2 in efforts to access Orile.
The situation on the bridge linking Kirikiri maximum Prison was not different. For hours, motorists were grounded on the bridge till late at night, as a serious gridlock caused by those who could not gain access to Orile turned against traffic.
“The pains Julius Berger is inflicting on Nigerians on this road is too much.  I was heading towards Orile last Monday night to connect Eko bridge to CMS but discovered that that access had been suddenly blocked by the company.
“Therefore, there was no way motorists could continue as everyone was now turning, driving one-way to see how one could get back on the expressway.

This took me almost an hour to be able to do this; it was bedlam.  I didn’t get home until around 1:00am yesterday,” narrated a motorist, who said he spent over two hours to get out of the gridlock.
Vice-chairman of Lagos State Council of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and President, Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, branch of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, Comrade Sanni Adeleke, described his experience on the Oshodi Apapa Expressway in the past two days as terrible and horrifying.
He said on Monday, while going to work he spent over one hour and coming back, he spent over one and half hours.
According to him, “yesterday (Tuesday) was even worse because it was so chaotic and unbearable. It was just terrible. The tankers completely took over both sides of the roads. I think the earlier something drastic is done, the better because the nation is losing unquantifiable man hour on the road. Do not forget it is the only road to the nation’s seaports. We are just losing much.”
In his own reaction, National President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero said that the activities of tanker drivers and trucks parked along the expressway were killing the economy.
Amiwero explained that more than 75 per cent of the goods that are imported into the country come through the ports in Lagos and that two of the major ports in the country are based in Apapa. He noted that the blockage of the access roads leading to these two important ports makes it difficult to effectively service the economy.
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