Berger lay-by: Motorists, commuters lament extortion by police, traffic congestion
Commercial buses picking passengers at Berger, instead of using the lay-by. PHOTOS: VICTOR GBONEGUN
We will address the issue, say Lagos police
The commissioning of 150m length lay-bys on both sides of Ojodu Berger Bus stop, along the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway by the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, on May 15, 2017, was greeted with funfair as it was expected to address recurring traffic on the highway.
During the commissioning, which included Pedestrian Bridge and Slip road at Ojodu Berger, motorists, commuters and Ojodu Berger Community, who had yearned for an improved, efficient and gridlock-free road network were delighted by the strategic thinking of the government.
Before then, the traffic situation on the axis was terrible because of the flagrant parking of vehicles by both commercial and private drivers to pick up and drop passengers by the bus stop.
At any time of the day, except perhaps past 12 midnight, motorists spent more than two hours between 7Up and Berger Bus stop, hence the sigh of relief and joy they expressed after the commissioning.
However, five years later, the bad days are returning, especially at night when traffic officers had closed for the day.
Police officers, who stayed behind are rather extorting motorists and allowing them to pick up and drop off passengers along the road without driving into the lay-bay.
A motorist, Kunle Ademola, said failure to use the lay-by at Berger Bus stop, is the major reason why there is traffic on the outbound Lagos route, apart from the construction work inward Lagos.
Ademola lamented that some police officers often collect money from motorists who parked sometimes in the middle of the road without minding the attendant traffic caused by their actions.
He said: “ Last Thursday, a police officer threatened a motorist, who refused to give him money after picking up passengers going to Mowe-Ibafo.
“One of the officers brought his gun and threatened to blow up the front tyre of the car, while his colleague jumped inside the car. It took the intervention of an officer inside the vehicle before the driver was allowed to go.
“ It has become a norm that the officers are no longer hiding this act while turning their eyes from the traffic build-up on the road.”
A commercial motorist, who plies the Oshodi-Mowe route, Akeem Olawore said they are encouraged to load on the road by police officers who collect money from them and the fact that most passengers like to stay along the road, rather than entering the lay-by.
According to him, “We normally give offices between N100 and N200 to allow us to load on the road.”
Olawore said many of the drivers are more concerned with loading their buses than the traffic they create.
When The Guardian reached out to a spokesperson for Lagos State Police Command, Superintendent of Police (SP), Benjamin Hundeyin, he said an effort will be made to address the complaint.
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