Passengers Trapped In Abuja-Lokoja Road Gridlock

Passengers travelling to and from the North through Lokoja-Abuja highway are currently in a gridlock on Gegu-Koton karfe section of the road.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the gridlock started Saturday evening as a result of an accident involving two articulated vehicles.

While the vehicle coming from the opposite direction were said to be lying across the road as a result of a head on collision.

The heavy downpour, which lasted about six hours in the day, also compounded the situation thereby rendering the road impassable, forcing many motorists to sleep in the traffic.

Some motorists, who spoke to NAN, decried their situation and blamed their stars for choosing the day to embark on the journey.

Also, many vehicles conveying newspapers from Abuja to Lokoja arrived around 3pm when many vendors had departed their stands.

The Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) at Koton Karfe, Mr Isaac Nzapsima, said that the gridlock was largely caused by the accident of the two articulated vehicles.

He confirmed that the gridlock had lasted more than 24 hours but said that the two obstructing trailers had been removed from the road.

He said that the FRSC had also stationed officials at Gegu to control movement of vehicles going to and from Abuja.

“The gridlock is gradually easing and normal traffic movement will soon be restored,” he said.

Nzapsima, an Assistant Corp Commander, expressed the hope that the gridlock will completely disappear by Monday morning but pleaded with motorists to show understanding. (NAN)