Some road users and artillery truck drivers trapped on Lagos-Benin expressway have called on the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to urgently fix the failed portion of a bridge along Isoko axis of the highway to save lives and ensure smooth transportation of goods from one place to another.

A viral video trending online showed some motorists and passengers stranded on the highway as a truck fell near the failed portion of the bridge passing over a river along the route, hindering other vehicles from moving inward or outward the axis.

One of the stranded passengers, who did not identify himself, lamented the difficulty experienced by the drivers and passengers stranded on the dilapidated bridge for over two hours. He called the minister’s attention to the failed portion of the road, which is daily used by truck drivers and travellers plying the road for their business operations.

He wondered why Umahi would focus on the construction of the Lagos-Calabar highway and ignore the failed section of the Lagos-Benin expressway, which many Nigerians used daily for economic activities because of its direct route to Lagos, the country’s economic hub.

The passenger 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 nonsense.”

“Do you know how many trucks pass here? Do you know how many trucks are trapped here? That means the economy of Nigeria is affected because of the number of goods on the trapped trucks that cannot be transported. The fell truck is lucky that it did not fall into the river,” he added.

Narrating his everyday experiences on the road, a driver at Kuto Garage, Abeokuta, Mr Aderenle Oduola, said that the bad portion of the expressway starts from the interchange section of the road to Ijebu-Mushin and then to Benin.

Oduola lamented that he had just spent N74,000 last Sunday to buy two front tyres for his Sienna car due to the dilapidated state of the road, emphasising that he was still seeking N45,000 to buy another shock absorber for the vehicle before embarking on any trip to Benin.

He appealed to the federal government to come to the aid of motorists and road users of the busy Lagos-Benin road to repair loopholes and other bad portions of the highway to ensure the smooth carriage of people and goods from one place to another.

He said, “The road is very bad from interchange to Ijebu-Mushin to Benin, not so good at all. You cannot go easily at all because when you are going, it causes other problems, especially when applying brakes.”

“When I was coming yesterday, my front tyres got spoiled. I had to buy two of the tyres for N74,000. Even my vehicle’s shock absorber is damaged, and I have to go and look for 45,000 to buy another one. This is due to the bad conditions of the Lagos-Benin road. We are appealing to the federal government to repair the road for us,” he added.

Another driver from the same garage, Mr Johnson Akinbode, who also plies the Lagos-Benin expressway with his vehicle, stated that the poor condition of the road has caused continuous damage to the steering, rims, and tyres of his vehicle.

Akinbode said that he had had several arguments with his passengers over mechanical faults of his vehicle, which he said were usually caused by the dilapidated condition of the expressway.

“The bad conditions of the road always damage our vehicles… like the steering, absorber, rims or tyres getting damaged due to the bad conditions of the road. The government should help repair the roads,” he said.

A passenger, Mr. Matthew Oyebamiji, recalled his experience of spending over two hours at a section due to damage to part of the Lagos-Benin expressway. He called on the federal government to urgently fix or repair the road because of its commercial importance.

“When we reached the section of the road that is in poor condition, we stayed there for two hours, but we were thankful there was no accident. Personally, I wouldn’t agree because I believe that Lagos-Benin road is a commercial hub for the whole country, rather than focusing on the construction of Lagos-Calabar road. The government should prioritise repairing Lagos-Benin road first because it is a vital commercial link for the entire nation country,” he added.