Commuters have called on the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to urgently repair a failed portion of a bridge along the Isoko axis of the Lagos-Benin Expressway, following a viral video showing motorists and passengers stranded after a truck fell near the damaged section.

The video, which circulated online, captured vehicles trapped for hours as the fallen truck blocked movement in and out of the axis. One of the stranded passengers, who did not identify himself, lamented the hardship faced by drivers and passengers stuck on the bridge for over two hours.

He said: “This is a failed portion of a bridge on the Lagos-Benin Expressway, yet our minister is busy constructing the Lagos-Calabar Expressway, a road to nowhere. Do you know how many trucks pass here? The number of trucks trapped here affects the economy of Nigeria because of the goods on the trapped trucks that cannot be transported. The truck that fell is lucky it did not fall into the river.”

Narrating his daily experience on the road, a driver at Kuto Garage, Abeokuta, Aderenle Oduola, said the bad portion of the expressway stretched from the interchange section to Ijebu-Mushin and Benin.

Oduola disclosed that he had recently spent N74,000 to replace two front tyres of his Sienna car due to the road’s condition and was still looking for N45,000 to buy another shock absorber before embarking on any trip. He appealed to the Federal Government to urgently repair potholes and other damaged sections of the busy highway.

“The road is very bad from Interchange to Ijebu-Mushin to Benin. You cannot go easily at all, especially when applying break. When I was coming yesterday my front two tyres got spoiled. I had to buy two of the tyres at N74,000. Even the shock absorber was damaged and I have to look for N45,000 to buy another one due to the bad conditions of the Lagos-Benin road. We are appealing to the federal government to repair the road for us,” he said.

Another driver from the same garage, Johnson Akinbode, lamented that the poor condition of the expressway had repeatedly damaged the steering, rims, and tyres of his vehicle.

“The bad conditions of the road always damage our vehicle, like the steering, absorber, rims or tyres getting damaged due to the bad conditions of the road. The government should help repair the roads. Today we repair tomorrow we repair our vehicle,” Akinbode added.

Similarly, a passenger, Matthew Oyebamiji, recalled spending over two hours stranded due to a damaged portion of the highway. He urged the Federal Government to prioritise repairs on the Lagos-Benin Expressway because of its commercial importance.

“When we got to the side of the road that is in bad condition, we were there for two hours, but we were thankful there was no accident. I personally believe that the Lagos-Benin road is a commercial hub for the whole country rather than constructing the Lagos-Calabar road. The government should prioritising repairing the Lagos-Benin road because it is a commercial hub for the entire country,” he said.