Transporters, car owners decry illegal tollgates along Mile 2 inner roads
Another tollgate manned by LSPGM
For many motorists and commuters, navigating through the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, especially the Ijesha-Mile 2 axis, comes with a lot of pains and discomfort. This is mainly because of ongoing construction works and the traffic gridlock on the corridor caused majorly by articulated vehicle’ drivers who have turned the expressway into parking lots.
Rather than the alternative routes serving to ease traffic for motorists, some unscrupulous persons have turned the alternative roads into money-making ventures, collecting tolls from commercial vehicle drivers and private car owners thereby compounding the plight of motorists and commuters.
For instance, around the Mile 2 area of Amuwo-Odofin Local Council, four tolling points have been introduced on the alternative route, a stretch of less than 500metres, with each motorists paying between N400 and N500 in total to navigate through the illegal tollgates. The Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), community youths, and Lagos State Parks and Garages Management (LSPGM) man the tollgates, while the OPC manages one of the tolling points; the LSPGM is in control of two while the community youths are in control of the last tolling point.
Findings by The Guardian revealed that OPC collects N200 from every motorist that uses the route, whether commercial or private, while the community youths and the LSPGM collect N100 each from every driver that drives through the corridor.
Although there are four tolling points on the route, in driving through this alternate road, a driver has no option, but to pay at three of the tolling points. The last tolling point is usually optional, as there is an exit point to bypass the tollgate.
At each of the tolling points, there are improvised barriers. Immediately a driver pays, the barrier is raised to signal the next driver to slow down or stop and pay.
Two of the tolling points are before the bridge, while the other two are after the bridge. And many drivers often have no choice other than to pass through this alternative route due to the traffic logjam on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
This is because the traffic snarl along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway is usually heavy with man-hours lost in the chaotic process. A journey that should not take more than two minutes can be completed after two hours or more.
For some time now, the fast lane of the expressway has been blocked for reconstruction work, while articulated vehicle drivers park on the service lane as they head to the ports or tank farms, obstructing the free flow of traffic and other road users’ movement.
As a result, many motorists and commuters often look out for alternative routes to easily bypass that problematic section of the expressway. One of such alternative routes that has become useful to motorists plying the Apapa-Oshodi road is the Mazamaza-Mile 2 under bridge. With articulated vehicles obstructing the free flow of traffic, especially from Second Rainbow Bus Stop to the ports, many motorists heading to Orile or need to make a detour at Mile 2 Flyover while heading to Cele or Oshodi often go through First Rainbow into Amuwo-Odofin Estate and then drive through the Mazamaza-Mile 2 under bridge to connect the Lagos-Badagry Expressway for onward movement to bypass the hectic traffic.
When The Guardian visited the illegal toll points, it was, our correspondent observed that the toll collectors always insist that drivers must pay before their vehicles are given access. When a driver refuses, the collectors usually rain a steam of invectives on such driver, alleging that the fellow was slowing down or delaying other vehicles from gaining access. At times, the boys would instruct the driver to park off the road in order to allow other vehicles access the toll.
In a chat with The Guardian, a motorist, Tajudeen Ogunlade, who is alarmed by the development, said that the introduction of multiple toll points is happening in spite of the presence of state and local council officials within those locations.
He added that each of the head of these arms of government promised to protect the interest of citizens and deliver not just dividends of democracy, but good governance, yet this is happening in daylight.
He continued: “Every time I drive through this area and at each of the points where I am compelled to pay to the toll collector, I feel let down and wonder if we have a government. A road that is not up to one kilometre in length, with a greater part of it being un-tarred with varied sizes of potholes, has four tolling points. And those we elected to protect our interests, including our lawmakers have not seen any reason to intervene to put an end to this illegality.
“Surprisingly, this is happening in Lagos where the state government is supposed to be a shining light. It is a shame to those who manage Lagos and its activities,” Ogunlade said.
Also speaking, a commercial driver, Abudu Tola, said that if the OPC is collecting money from commercial drivers at these tolling points, should the LSPGM also be collecting money from drivers to access the route?
“We pay all kinds of dues and levies for every trip at the parks and bus stops. So, you expect that the LSPGM should fight on our behalf to stop the community boys and OPC from extorting transporters. Unfortunately, they are bigger chieftains in the extortion business. The money that the OPC is collecting from us should not have been, if the LSPGM were to be a responsible organization, and the state government a responsive one.
“The OPC mounted a tolling point just because it constructed a metal to cover the drainage that gives access to be able to drive through under the bridge easily. Rather than construct the iron cast cover over the drainage, the LSPGM is only concerned about collecting money and not to facilitate easy navigation for the drivers that pay dues and all manner of levies to them. Rather than improve the situation for the commercial drivers, the body sees this and every other alternative routes as other opportunities to extort transporters, which is clearly the case now,” Tola said.
A private car owner, Samuel Chukwuemeka, said: “This has been going on for some times now; is it that the government is not aware of the development, or is it that it just feels unconcerned about the plight of residents and those who use the alternative road?
“Majority of the vehicles that ply the alternative route do so because of the failure of government and its agency, especially Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) in ensuring free flow of traffic on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
“Also, if the Police fail to act or draw the attention of the government to this heinous act, what then is the job of the Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Agency, and why has this government agency failed to do something about it?
“People should not just mount road blocks to collect money from residents and transporters when there is a government that promised to protect the peoples’ interest. How can this kind of extortion go on in a community and nobody in government is working to end the anomaly after months of the erection of the illegal toll points? It is a pity,” Chukwuemeka said.
The Chairman of Amuwo Odofin local council, Buraimoh Valentine was called on phone severally to speak on the multiple tolling points and what the council was doing to alleviate the sufferings of motorists and residents. To date, there has been no response or official reaction from the council.
When the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso was contacted on the issue, he said: “We are all government; if anybody sees something that is not good, let him speak out about it. The state government definitely did not ask residents to pay to use an alternative route. It is not official. Lagos State government is not part of it, so it will be investigated.
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