Three yet-to-be-identified persons have lost their lives during an accident that injured four other persons in Oniworo, along the Lagos Ibadan Expressway, on Sunday.
The spokesperson for the Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun State, Florence Okpe, confirmed the accident to journalists in Abeokuta.
Okpe said “Nine persons were involved in the crash, three died while four others sustained injuries.
“The suspected causes of the crash were tyre burst and speeding on the part of the Toyota matrix driver who lost control of the wheels after a tyre burst and rammed into a truck.
“The injured victims were taken to the Victory Hospital, Ogere, for medical attention, while the corpses were deposited at the FOS Morgue in Isara.”
PUNCH Metro gathered that the accident occurred just as hundreds of motorists and commuters were trapped for hours in the gridlock caused by the ongoing construction around the Otedola Bridge end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
One of our correspondents monitoring the situation along the expressway observed that the gridlock had caused motorists to increase the transport fares from Berger to Magboro, Mowe, Ibafo, among other places in Ogun State.
A passenger, who did not give her name for security reasons lamented spending hours in the gridlock.
She said, “This construction is not helping at all, how many hours are we to spend in this traffic? All these bus drivers don’t even want to put themselves in our shoes; they are just increasing the prices.”
A business man coming from Oyo State, Temidayo Olawale, stated that the road divider was responsible for the heavy traffic.
He said, “When we got to the Warewa bus stop, the driver took one way because the traffic on the bridge wasn’t moving at all. There was a narrow place that could only take one vehicle at a time, that place was also blocked.
“Motorists coming from Lagos, who were trying to make a u-turn at the Fatgbems bus stop also contributed to the traffic. I was coming from Oyo State, I got to Warewa around 12pm, I got to a point close to the divider and I spent three hours there.”
A commuter, Tosin Omojola, told NAN that the situation on the road was worrisome given that the contractor was insensitive to the plight of road users.
She said, “The gridlock can be avoided if Julius Berger had done the needful. The issue is that they are not bothered by the hours we waste on the road. The road should have been made passable before they divided it into two.
“I had to spend four hours from Berger to Magboro on Friday night; it was such a difficult time.”
The Ogun Sector Commander, FRSC, Ahmed Umar, in an interview with NAN, cautioned motorists plying the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway against violating traffic rules.
The Lagos State Acting Federal Controller of Works, Forosola Oloyede, in a statement on Saturday, appealed to all road users, adding that there would be adequate provisions for traffic management.
She said, “The government therefore wishes to appeal for the cooperation of all road users with the contractor and traffic management officers to allow for free-flow of traffic at all times, even while the reconstruction works are ongoing.
“There is also provision for tow trucks along the road in case of any breakdown. Road users should be patient by not driving against traffic and obeying stationed road traffic officers in order to allow for free flow of traffic.”
