Motorists and commuters on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway were trapped in gridlock for over 14 hours on Tuesday after a multiple-vehicle crash at the Kara Bridge compounded ongoing repair works on the bridge.

The crash, which occurred in the early hours of the day, involved seven vehicles and initially disrupted movement towards Ogun State, with the resulting gridlock later stretching beyond the Long Bridge towards Magboro and into Lagos.

As the congestion worsened, some impatient motorists drove against traffic in an attempt to escape the gridlock, creating another bottleneck for vehicles heading towards Lagos.

Our correspondents observed that motorists travelling from Lagos towards Ogun State were already held up in traffic as early as 7am, while the situation deteriorated as the day progressed.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said its LRT Tiger Squad stationed at C3 was dispatched to the scene at 6:05am following a distress call and arrived within the projected response time.

According to the LASEMA Permanent Secretary, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, the vehicles involved were a 40-foot container truck without a registration number, a Toyota Hilux, an interstate bus, a Hyundai Odyssey, a Sienna, a Toyota Highlander and a Mitsubishi Hilux.

He said preliminary investigation showed that the container truck developed a mechanical fault while in motion, causing the driver to lose control and ram into the other six vehicles.

Oke-Osanyintolu said LASEMA activated its incident management protocol and coordinated the response with the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and the Nigeria Police Force to prevent secondary crashes and manage the traffic situation.

“Private towing trucks were deployed to support the recovery operation, while all the affected vehicles were eventually removed from the carriageway to the roadside. Fortunately, no loss of life or injury was recorded in the incident,” the statement noted.

The LASEMA boss said LASTMA officials remained at the scene to monitor traffic and facilitate the restoration of movement, while the recovered vehicles were handed over to the police for documentation and further necessary action.

However, before the crashed vehicles were cleared, the gridlock had spread towards Lagos as some motorists began driving against traffic to escape the congestion.

A motorist, who identified himself simply as Jude, told PUNCH Metro that motorists who took the one-way route eventually occupied three lanes, leaving only one lane for vehicles travelling towards Lagos.

He said, “The moment the place got blocked, it was a total standstill when the crash occurred. So, vehicles started to take one-way. That was how they blocked the vehicles coming inward Lagos.

“As a matter of fact, those taking one-way occupied three lanes and left the remaining one lane to vehicles coming into Lagos.”

Another motorist said he spent over five hours in the gridlock and missed an appointment.

He said, “I ran into the traffic around 11am, and I am still here. I was scheduled for an appointment but could no longer meet up.”

Although the removal of the crashed vehicles subsequently eased movement towards Kara Bridge, motorists who had driven against traffic created another obstruction at the OPIC end of the road as they attempted to rejoin the proper lane.

A traffic official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, attributed the fresh gridlock to the influx of motorists who drove against traffic.

The official said, “The influx of vehicles taking one-way when the crash happened had blocked vehicles coming into Lagos in the process of connecting back to their lane at OPIC. That is what has caused the serious traffic you see now.”