Motorists endure three-hour gridlock on Benin–Lagos Expressway
Motorists and commuters were stranded for more than three hours on Sunday as heavy traffic built up between Ovia Bridge and Okada Junction on the Benin–Lagos Expressway in Edo State.
Vehicle breakdowns and an accident disrupted movement, while motorists also blamed roadside parking, impatience and drivers moving against traffic for worsening the congestion.
Articulated vehicles were among those caught in the gridlock on the major interstate route linking Benin City with Lagos and other parts of southern Nigeria.
Some motorists described the Okada axis as a recurring bottleneck and pointed to a damaged section near Tipper Garage.
Separate reports also raised concerns about the condition of Ovia Bridge. However, the available evidence does not establish either road defect as the sole cause of Sunday’s disruption.
Edo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Preye Bedford, said FRSC personnel monitor the route but are not permanently stationed at the affected point.
Bedford said officers are deployed periodically and when the corps receives reports of crashes or broken-down vehicles. He also urged motorists to exercise patience and obey traffic rules.
The disruption raises wider questions about road conditions and traffic management on a route that carries significant passenger and commercial traffic.
For motorists, the immediate consequence was hours of lost travel time and uncertainty.
For the authorities, the outstanding questions include the condition of the affected road sections, plans for repairs and whether traffic-control coverage is adequate for a corridor motorists say experiences repeated disruption.
IDNN has not independently established that the same gridlock continued into Monday, October 19.
Further clarification is needed from the authority responsible for the road on the condition of the Ovia–Okada corridor, any repair programme and the damaged section near Tipper Garage.
