A file photo of a section of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
Six persons have been confirmed dead while one other sustained injuries in an accident involving a truck and a Honda pilot jeep around Ogere, on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The public relations officer of the Ogun state Traffic Compliance and Enforcement (TRACE) unit, Babatunde Akinbiyi, and officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps in the state confirmed the incident.
According to them, the incident which occurred around 7 am on Saturday was caused by excessive speeding and loss of control on the part of the jeep driver.
Reports have it that eight male adults and one female adult were involved in the accident, while five males and one female lost their lives in the accident.
It was gathered that the Honda pilot marked LSR 525 FY was on excessive speed, lost control, and rammed into the moving truck with registration number KRV 716 ZV.
The injured victim is said to have been taken to Idera, a private hospital in Ogere for medical attention, while the deceased were deposited at FOS Morgue, Ipara.
Traffic officials advised motorists and other road users to drive cautiously, obey traffic rules and regulations and also avoid dangerous driving, and wrongful overtaking at all times.
A Tuesday morning accident has caused gridlock at the Kara axis along the Lagos Ibadan expressway.
The accident which involved two articulated vehicles, a truck and a tanker, kept motorists squeezing out as the lanes become narrow due to the obstruction.
Members of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and police were on the ground to ease and direct motorists who slowly navigated their way out of the gridlock.
Also, efforts are also on to evacuate the tanker from the scene.
The scene of the tanker explosion on Kara Bridge of the Lagos Ibadan Expressway.
Multiple vehicles were engulfed in a fire that started on Saturday morning along the Kara Bridge section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
According to eyewitnesses, the fire was triggered by an explosion from a petrol tanker.
The number of human casualties could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.
The Nigerian police and Federal Road Safety Corps officials have arrived at the scene to put the situation under control.
The incident led to heavy traffic on that section of the expressway on Saturday morning.
Tanker related accidents are common along Kara Bridge. On July 17, two trucks and a fully-loaded fuel tanker were in collision, resulting in major gridlock for commuters.
At least one person was confirmed dead on June 21, after a petrol tanker, a gas truck, and a cement transport truck collided on the bridge.
See Photos Below:
The scene of the tanker explosion on Kara Bridge of the Lagos Ibadan Expressway.
Screenshot from videos showing grounded activities at Ikeja area of Lagos State.
Businesses were ground to a halt in and around Ikeja area of Lagos State as #EndSars Protest continues on Tuesday.
Malls, government offices, and other businesses in Alausa, Agidingbi, Allen were shut as protesters occupy the streets, blocking major roads along the business areas.
Dispatch riders can be seen stranded as vehicular activities were restricted due to the activities of the protesters.
Some youths play football on deserted roads, others gather at different junctions mounting roadblocks to restrict vehicular movement.
Others seized the moment to display cycling and other creative skills on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as traffic builds.
Protesters against police brutality and extrajudicial killings have again blocked sections of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway grinding vehicular activities to a halt.
The protesters occupied the inbound and outbound sections of the expressway singing solidarity songs and chanting ‘#EndSWAT’‘#EndSARS’ ‘#EndPoliceBrutality.’
Motorists and commuters were trapped in the gridlock as a result of the demonstration by the protesters.
The protesters regrouped after the early morning attack on them carried out by armed thugs on House of Assembly drive, in Alausa area of Lagos State.
By midday, they walked 1km from Alausa to Allen roundabout, where they stayed for some minutes chanting solidarity songs.
The protesters later moved to the Lagos-Ibadan expressway blocking both sides of the road.
For the past few days, hundreds of protesters demanding an end to police brutality, extrajudicial killings, and extortion by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force have blocked the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
A file photo of a roadblock on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway used to depict the story.
Eight persons were reportedly burnt to death in a lone accident involving a Mazda passenger bus around Saapade bridge by Straight Gate college on Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Saturday night.
This was confirmed by the sector commander of the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), Ahmed Umar, to newsmen in Abeokuta on Sunday.
He explained that the accident occurred around 8:45 pm was caused by tyre burst.
“The suspected cause of the lone accident involving the Mazda bus marked AAA 249 VX was tyre burst which led to the loss of control then crash and the bus went into flames immediately,” he said.
He adds that the FRSC operatives contacted the Sagamu Fire Service immediately for joint rescue operations.
Eleven persons were said to be involved in the accident which comprised three male adults, one female adult, one child and six others unidentified.
Three injured victims were taken to Idera Hospital, Sagamu for medical attention while the health department of Remo North Local government was contacted for the burnt victims.
The FRSC, however, advises motorists to drive cautiously, obey traffic rules and regulations, and ensure that their tyres are in good condition always.
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway will now be completed in the first quarter of 2022, Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, said on Thursday.
The road project, awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria and Reynolds Construction Company Limited (RCC), at a sum of 167 billion naira, was earlier scheduled to be finished in 2021.
Fashola, in an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said the delay was due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has slowed construction activities and affected government revenues.
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is part of projects funded under the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund.
Other projects under the fund include the Second Niger Bridge and the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Highway
On Thursday, Mr. Fashola confirmed all three projects are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2022.
“As I speak to you now, we have lost essentially the prime of our working period which is the dry season in the Covid period,” he said. “We have to regain and recover all of that.
“We have also lost some of our expected revenue plans. At the time Covid hit Nigeria, we were doing 2.59 percent growth rate. Now we are heading for a recession globally and Nigeria will not be insulated from that.
“We are working on plans to bring the economy back on track.”
Mr Fashola noted that while work was suspended during the coronavirus lockdown, earnest efforts were made to resume once the federal government started to lift restrictions.
Some 11 contractors executing 53 projects in 26 states were “remobilised back to site in the first week of the easing of the lockdown,” Fashola said.
“We had to work with the Governor to allow men and materials to move,” he added. “We also had to develop new safety guidelines for the construction.”
Much with less
Assessing the efforts of the Buhari administration over five years on improving road infrastructure across the country, Fashola said much had been done with very little.
“Given the circumstances and the results, we have done a lot much more with less resources,” he said.
He cited refunds – near N700bn – made by the federal government to states for federal road projects worked on since 1999.
A file photo of Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola
“These are debts that the previous government handed over at the time oil was selling at over $100 per barrel,” Fashola said.
“Those roads were neglected then. These governments have inherited them at the time when revenues have dropped significantly, sometimes to as low as $20 per barrel.
“With much less resources, we have committed to more radical infrastructure development across Nigeria. So as I speak to you now, we are executing 600 road projects across all the states.
“We are in universities repairing internal roads that have been left behind.
“The Abuja-Kaduna highway is under construction, so is the Bodo-Bonny bridge. Second Niger-Bridge and the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
“What is the impact? Although we haven’t finished, any road user today will tell you that their journey times have been improved, compared to when we resumed on the major highways.”
‘Focus On Your Own Roads’
On Wednesday, the federal government said it will no longer pay states for constructing federal government roads.
“What the states have done is that they have spent money on roads that have become integral to the development of their cities,” Fashola, a former Governor of Lagos state, said.
But after paying back nearly N700bn to states for federal road projects, the Buhari administration will no longer make refunds, Fashola stressed.
“So what the president has done is to say I will pay the inherited debt, I promised to do so. And he has kept his promise. But please leave my roads alone, go and face your own roads, don’t impose priorities for me, I have mine.
“From January 2016, all the states were notified – don’t touch federal roads again if you want a refund. If you do not want a refund and you want to do it, take permission, approval from the Ministry of Works.
“Because the states too have not completed all their roads, neither have the local governments; we are now focusing on over 600 roads that will impact lives in a very positive way.”
How Abacha Loot Will Be Managed
In 2020, the federal government recovered $308m looted by military dictator, Sani Abacha, and pledged it towards the construction of three key infrastructure projects – the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kano Expressway and the Second Niger bridge.
On Thursday, Fashola explained that the funds are not domiciled in the Ministry of Works.
Instead, the funds go into the sovereign wealth fund, managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Fashola said.
“I can’t confirm whether the money is ready because it didn’t come to my ministry,” he said. “It was released to the Nigerian government through the Central bank and I believe on to the NSIA.
“So what happens simply is that the contractor does his work. Our staff, from the controller to the directors at the ministry, provide technical governance to make sure that the work is properly done, certified, and then we send the certificate that we validate to the NSIA.
“The NSIA also have their own technical consultants who crosscheck; and if they are satisfied, they pay.
“That is how we have done it in the past 18 months and these funds, when they come in, if they come in, will not change the governance process.
“And there are plans by the attorney-general to also expand the governance process and oversight for it. What we are concerned about is making money work for Nigerians.”
The traffic situation in Lagos State appears to have intensified over the last 24 hours following a tanker explosion.
The explosion involving a fuel tanker occurred on the Longbridge along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Tuesday evening.
Although there were no casualties, the incident resulted in gridlock as commuters were prevented from driving through until the fire was quenched and the remains of the vehicle were removed.
The gridlock spilled over into the early hours of Wednesday, causing hours of delay for commuters heading to various destinations.
This comes amidst the recent ban of tricycles (Keke) and motorcycles (Okada) by the Lagos State government which many say has worsened their plight in commuting to and fro their destinations.
In addition to the limited means of transportation available, the Lagos/Ibadan expressway has experienced intense levels of traffic as a result of the ongoing reconstruction of the road.
Officials, however, say that the reconstruction which has lasted nearly 2 months is set to be concluded by the end of the month.
Motorists and commuters plying locations around Lagos-Ibadan expressway were on Wednesday morning left stranded.
This according to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) was caused by a fully loaded truck that lost control and another truck that broke down at the Kara construction area of the expressway.
The two broken-down trucks ended up causing an obstruction on both sections of the expressway causing huge traffic at adjoining routes in Isheri Magodo, Alausa, Ogba and incoming traffic from Ojota, Ikorodu road and Alapere axis.
“The traffic is at standstill on Lagos Ibadan expressway following a crash that occurred at Kara construction area.
“A fully loaded truck lost control crossing the entire road both inwards and outwards. Our men are on the ground trying to pull it off the road without much success due to the load it’s carrying,” a statement from the FRSC command explained.
The Federal Government has signed an agreement with the United States of America and the Island of Jersey to repatriate the sum of $318,460,329 looted and stashed away by former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha.
According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ferdinand Nwonye, the agreement was sealed on Monday at the United States Department of States, Washington DC.
He stated that the Federal Government intends to use the recovered loot to fund three major projects, namely, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Abuja – Kano Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge and will be supervised by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority.
Nigerian delegates at the Nigeria-US Bi-National Commission 2020 in Washington DC. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria
The agreement was signed by the Attorney General of the Federation Mr Abubakar Malami on behalf of the Federal Government, Mr Mark Temple, Assistant Solicitor General of the Island of Jersey and Mr Kevin Drisioil, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the US Department of Justice on behalf of the Government of the United States signed the treaty.
Mr Nwonye also revealed that the agreement was witnessed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and his counterparts from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; Humanitarian Affairs, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, the National Security Adviser, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Group Managing Director of NNPC, and the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States of America, among others.
The delegates had travelled on Sunday for the annual three-day meeting of the United States-Nigeria Bi-national Commission in Washington DC.
The meeting is aimed at reviewing bilateral relationship and taking the necessary steps to advance mutual interest in all diplomatic areas among the two countries.
Commuters along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway stretching from Berger to Kara cattle market axis are expected to face longer journey hours as repair work resumes.
The road which was re-opened on December 1, 2019, was partially closed in September when the reconstruction work commenced and traffic was diverted on both sides of the expressway.
Channels Television observed that traffic outbound Lagos has already been diverted to the inbound section, with slow vehicular movements witnessed, similar to the one witnessed since the commencement of the reconstruction.
Both in and out-bound motorists now have had to endure the gridlock which sometimes lasts for hours.
The initial work plan was reviewed when the ministry failed to meet up with the set completion date for the 1.2-kilometer rehabilitation and reconstruction which kicked off in September last year.
According to the Federal Controller of Works, Mr. Adedamola Kuti who spoke to Channels Television, the project is expected to be completed next month.
“We are fully ready for this; we are right in the dry season, a construction season so we don’t expect the kind of experience we had during the rainy season.
“By the time we get ready, here should be taking us this month and next month. By the end of February we should be completing the 600 meters work on the outbound Lagos,” he confirmed.
The rainy season forced the deadline for the completion of the reconstruction of the Kara/Berger, forcing road users to bear the brunt as they spent long hours in traffic.
Commuters have been enjoying an easier flow of traffic on the highway since it was re-opened in December 2019.
