Motorists and commuters were stranded for many hours on Lagos- Ibadan Expressway on Sunday as Lagosians and some residents of nearby communities in Ogun State besieged the Kara Cattle Market, Isheri, Ogun State, to buy rams for Eid-el-Kabir festival, which comes up on Tuesday.
As a result of the large number of people that visited the market, many vehicles were indiscriminately parked by the road side, thereby hindering free flow of traffic. Many commuters were also stranded for hours as commercial vehicle drivers shunned the route while the traffic jam lasted.
Although there were officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission on the ground to monitor the situation, PUNCH METRO learnt that it was a bit difficult for them to trace many of the vehicle owners, who parked indiscriminately along the road and left for the market.
“Most of them were already in the market before we arrived and we are making efforts to get them so that they can remove their vehicles on the road,” one of the FRSC men, who declined to give his name, told our correspondent.
A motorist, Mr. John Adisa, said he spent over three hours on the road and missed some of his appointments. He also said he was compelled to park his car by the wayside and bought more petrol at a nearby filling station having exhausted the one in his car due to long hours spent in the traffic jam.
A mother, Mrs. Juliana Ikenna, said it was sad that passengers were subjected to such a terrible experience, wondering why those who parked indiscriminately did not consider other road users.
“My children cried continuously in the commercial bus we boarded because we were held in the traffic for about two hours and there was inadequate ventilation. People should be considerate in whatever they are doing,” she said.
A ram seller, Hasssan Yakuku from Katsina State, attributed the indiscriminate parking to lack of enough space for people to park their vehicles. He appealed to the government to be more proactive to envisage such a problem and provide solutions to avoid a recurrence.
He admitted that there was a boom in ram business, saying the least ram went for N30,000, while the highest went for as high as N90,000.
Yakubu said, “We do not have good space to park. The government did not take proactive measures to forestall this gridlock especially during Sallah. There is no parking space that is why people are parking on the road. When President Goodluck Jonathan came here yesterday (Saturday); there was more presence of security personnel that controlled the traffic, but today there is no proper traffic management.
“I sell ram and I make a lot of money. I have different prices for the rams depending on their sizes. Some go for N30,000, we have those that we sell for N40,000, N50,000, N60,000, N70,000, N80,000 and N90,000. I brought 130 rams and I have sold 80. I came here six days ago. I am happy business is booming here.”
A buyer, Mr. Olaseni Bakare, complained that the prices of the rams were very expensive, adding that the ram dealers attributed the high cost to the recent flooding of some areas in the North.
He also urged the government to boost the morale of traffic management agencies to enable them to control traffic better.
Bakare said, “The rams are very expensive and the ram sellers claim that the flood problems that affected some states in the north is responsible for this. There is no specific cost for a ram. It depends on the size. A ram that sold for N30,000 in the past now sells for N50,000.
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