Several individuals also sustained varying degrees of injuries.

The fire began when the tanker, loaded with petrol, overturned in front of a commercial bank located along the Ibafo section of the expressway.

Eyewitnesses disclosed that the driver of the tanker was suspected to have fallen asleep at the wheel, causing him to lose control, which led to the tanker’s fall and eventual explosion.

the petrol spill passed through a drainage system that led to a community about one kilometre from the expressway.

The impact of the fire was evident, with several buildings suffering shattered windows, damaged roofs, and cracked walls.

Speaking with our correspondent, an eyewitness identified as Wasiu said the tanker driver’s reckless driving was to blame for the incident. He explained, “What I saw was that the tanker was swaying before it fell and spilt its contents into the drainage. It didn’t catch fire immediately, as some hoodlums had started scooping the fuel.

“However, after a few minutes, fire struck from the other side of the expressway, and it escalated. Four tipper trucks parked on the premises of Osadol Fuel Station were destroyed. I also learned that the fire extended into the community close to the expressway.”

A resident of the affected community, Tunde Adewumi, noted that the fire caused panic as most people were asleep when it spread into the area.

He said, “It was a serious incident, but thank God the drainage had been constructed; otherwise, the damage would have been much worse. The fire injured about three people and damaged buildings. Those affected were mostly people living close to where the drainage construction ends.”

Confirming the incident in a telephone conversation with our correspondent, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, said the tanker driver sustained injuries and was taken to the hospital.

“The incident involved a Fiat truck, but the driver’s name and address are currently unknown. The accident occurred when the driver lost control of the steering and collided with the roadside curb. The truck, believed to be carrying petrol, fell over and caught fire. The fire spread to the truck and eventually engulfed it.

“Additionally, the fire reached the Osadol Petrol Station, damaging two trucks parked outside. At the time of the incident, the fire service was contacted, but community members and police officers managed to bring the fire under control while awaiting their arrival. The truck driver has been taken to Real Divine Touch Hospital in Ibafo for medical treatment,” Odutola stated.

The spokesperson for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the incident to newsmen in Abeokuta.

Akinbiyi stated that the accident occurred at 7:10 a.m. at Ayedere village, Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state.

He noted that the accident was caused by the driver of the unregistered Mazda car who drove against traffic and had a head-on collision with the Mazda bus marked SEY 311 ZY.

The TRACE spokesperson added that the drivers of the two vehicles died while a motor boy with the bus sustained injuries.

Akinbiyi explained that the injured motor boy had been rescued and taken to a nearby hospital before the arrival of TRACE, saying that the driver of the car had been taken away by his family for burial.

He said that the driver of the bus was deposited at Ifo General Hospital morgue.

“The unregistered Mazda car, driving in a direction prohibited by traffic law, collided with the bus, leaving the drivers of both vehicles dead on the spot due to the impact of the collision.

“The motor boy of the white Mazda bus sustained varying degrees of injuries and has been taken to a private clinic for medical attention,” he said.

The gridlock worsened when the construction workers collapsed both routes of the expressway into two lanes.

As observed by our correspondents, the influx of vehicles plying the narrowed lanes to navigate their destinations in Ogun and Lagos states created a backlog of traffic that trapped many motorists.

A driver, Olumide Salami, while lamenting being trapped in the gridlock, said the construction workers should have provided alternative routes, adding that he was driving from Ilorin when he ran into the gridlock on the expressway.

He said, “I left Ilorin in the morning around 11am and I stopped at Ibadan to pick up more passengers, some of whom disembarked from the bus because of what I am facing right now.

“We drivers are always afraid of coming to Lagos because of gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The road is something else. They said that they are constructing the road and it was narrowed but I think this is not fair because the company should have provided an alternative.”

Another driver, Gbenga Onalapo, said he got trapped for three hours in the gridlock that stretched down to the Long Bridge area of the expressway.

He said, “I have been on this Long Bridge for hours now and we have been moving very slow and I really don’t know what has been happening. When will the government finish on this road and let us have peace? Every time, there are always issues on this road.”

A commuter, who identified himself simply as Ade, said in a bid to avoid being trapped in the gridlock occasioned by the slow-paced movements of vehicles plying the narrowed lanes, some motorists resorted to driving against the traffic.

Ade said, “I was going to Mowe from the secretariat area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway when I saw four police vans with other commercial vehicles plying the one-way direction. The situation affected a lot of vehicles plying the road.”

Another commuter, who gave her name simply as Susan, said, “The construction on the road is the cause of the traffic. But motorists’ especially commercial buses, are always in a hurry to beat the traffic by driving in a one-way direction. As you can see, everywhere is grounded now.”

Also commenting on the development, a passenger, who gave his name only as Samuel, said the traffic worsened at the New Garage area of the expressway due to the activities of some youths extorting money from truck drivers.

“It would not have been that worse around the New Garage where there is a diversion, but there are some boys that are stopping truck drivers around there and collecting money from them,” he said.

Samuel, who said he spent three hours in the gridlock, said the gridlock stretched from the Seven Up down to the New Garage area of the expressway.

He added, “Commercial drivers are charging more money because of the gridlock. From Ketu to Mowe which used to be N500, drivers are now collecting N1000.”

The Lagos Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr Babatunde Farinloye, while reacting to the development, urged motorists to cooperate with traffic officers on the road.

He said, “The traffic started as a result of the ongoing construction. You know we are getting to the last lap of the construction, so there are diversions, and the impatience on the part of the motorists is what is making the whole thing very hectic. If people can maintain discipline and obey the traffic managers on the road, we will have less-hectic traffic and there will be no congestion.

“Our officials are strategically positioned all along the corridors of the road. We have our towing trucks on standby to move any broken-down vehicle. As of Monday, we will be out for our ‘Operation Orange Impact.’ All officers will wear reflective jackets ensuring free flow of traffic – if motorists will obey traffic managers.”

The crash which took place opposite The PUNCH place, KM 14 of the expressway, involved a truck and several other vehicles on the road.

the truck, usually used to convey cows, rammed into a vehicle from behind as the vehicle also rammed into other vehicles at its front, leading to a chain of crashes.

An official of the Federal Road Safety Corps, who spoke on condition of anonymity for not being authorised to speak, told The PUNCH that at least four injured persons had been taken to a nearby hospital.

“Two children, one male and one female adult were involved,” he told our correspondent.

He said efforts were ongoing to ascertain further casualties and to remove the truck from the road.

The spokesperson for the Ogun sector of the FRSC, Florence Okpe, could not be immediately reached.

As of the time of filing this report, traffic has built up on the expressway en route Lagos.

The Minister of Work and Housing, Babatunde Fashola on Saturday, said this in a statement through his Special Adviser on Communications, Hakeem Bello.

He, however, appealed to motorists to exercise patience over the heavy traffic being experienced on the stretch from Toll Gate to Kara Bridge in Lagos, as the reconstruction work on the road enters its last phase.

“Work within the OPIC area between Kara Bridge and the Long Bridge has been completed and would be opened to traffic today, Sunday, April 30. This means that the main carriageway, both bounds, from Berger (New Garage) and Sagamu Inter-change on Section 1 of the Project has been completed,” he said.

While empathising with the general public over the heavy traffic, Fashola noted that, “the intensity of work and the high volume of traffic which had to be accommodated at the same time have been complicated by impatience on the part of some motorists who drive against the planned traffic flow and breakdown of vehicles.”

Fashola disclosed his ministry is already working with the Lagos State Government, all traffic management and security agencies to reduce the inconvenience caused by the Road reconstruction.

“All attention would now be focused on the outstanding work between Otedola Bridge and Berger (both bounds),” he added.

Collaborating the FG, the Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Saturday, said he had extracted a commitment from the contractors handling the road that part of the road would be completed and open to traffic today.

Abiodun got the commitment on Friday from the contractor through the Federal Comptroller of Works when he had an on-the-spot assessment on the cause of the constant gridlock on the road which had been causing the people discomfort.

He said, “On Friday, I stopped at Kara and made a piece of my mind known to the contractor handling the Kara end of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, my stopping there was with respect to the very poor traffic management and the resulting traffic gridlock subjecting innocent travellers to untold hardship.

“I am glad to note that I was able to extract from the firm handling the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway through the Federal Comptroller of Works a commitment to complete the construction causing the bottleneck on or before Sunday 30th April and open the road to allow free flow of traffic both outbound and inbound Lagos.”

The state Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, stated that the traffic buildup was due to the ongoing reconstruction works along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

Oladeinde, in a statement on Wednesday, explained that the review of the traffic management plan became necessary alongside the Lagos State Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Aramide Adeyoye.

According to the commissioner, Adeyoye also doubles as the representative of the Controller of Works, Federal Ministry of Works and the traffic management agencies of both Lagos and Ogun State.

“The traffic management plan of the construction works needed to be reworked as the existing plan is not adequate for the traffic demand towards Ogun State presently,” the statement read in part.

“The plan is being worked on in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, (LASTMA) and the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) to ensure an improved adequate and effective traffic management during the remaining period of the repair works to minimize Motorists inconveniences.”

While appealing for continuous cooperation of the general public with the stationed traffic control officers to actualise free and steady flow of traffic, Oladeinde advised motorists to be safety-conscious by driving with caution along the construction routes and avoiding driving against traffic.

The unregistered tanker reportedly exploded around 7:30am on Friday morning.

The Ogun State Federal Road Safety Corps spokesperson, Florence Okpe, confirmed the incident, adding that three persons were involved in the accident but no death or injury was recorded.

She said the accident involved an unregistered DAF tanker and another vehicle.

According to her, the suspected cause of the crash was wrongful overtaking which led to the scratching of two vehicles resulting in sparks of fire.

“The fire service men were contacted and traffic diverted immediately, with the crash scene cordoned off to avoid a secondary crash,” the spokesperson said.

He said in the last six weeks that members of the security outfit moved to the road, no kidnap case has been recorded on the road.

He added that the suspected abductors of a former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof Adigun Agbaje, and others had been arrested and their weapons recovered.

Olayanju spoke in an interview with journalists in Offa, Kwara State on the sidelines a colloquium tagged “Emerging trends and insecurity in our communities: Challenges and solutions “organised by Galaxy Clique, Offa. He said, “Both Oyo and Ogun State governments have moved together and had joint security teams. In the last six weeks, we have been on that road. I can tell you that no single incident has happened on the road.

“I can also tell you that the kidnappers of Prof Agbaje and others have been mopped-up. We have been able to arrest all the people involved. The first thing we did was to mop up their weapons -they were about five in number. We did that through the intelligence that the people gave us.

“The police were able to follow up using technology to arrest every member of that group. Since then, there has been no incident of kidnapping along that axis.”

In his presentation at the lecture, a former Director, National Military Strategy, National Defence College, Abuja, Air Vice Marshal Ishaq Balogun (retd.), called on state governors to give adequate support and assistance to security agencies to tackle “worrisome” security challenges.

He said, “If all the security outfits were supported to do what they are supposed to do, we wouldn’t have reached this level. “The military forces owe governors military assistance to constituted authorities and military assistance to civil authorities.

“With this, I wonder why some state governors will feel that they can’t issue directives to the chief command of military or police in emergencies.”

To address these issues, the IGP ordered an immediate restructuring of the security architecture on the road to provide adequate deployment of officers and assets to ensure the protection of lives and property along the expressway.

This development followed the briefs of the security situation from the commissioners of Police in charge of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo state commands.

In a statement released on Tuesday by Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the IGP similarly emphasised that the police leadership is not insensitive to the plight of motorists on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“The Inspector-General of Police, therefore, pledges adequate operational support in form of technology-based and tactical operational assets for the Commissioners of Police in charge of Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo, and Heads of tactical operational units in the area to combat the current trend of crimes and criminality on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

“In the same vein, the Inspector-General of Police has therefore called on well-meaning Nigerians, particularly road users, hunters, community leaders, and other stakeholders who ply the route to constantly expose known criminals who terrorize innocent Nigerians along the route and within adjoining communities to the Police and other security agencies for immediate arrest and prosecution,” the statement partly read.

In recent weeks, the gridlock associated with the road has become compounded and nightmarish with kidnapping as unscrupulous elements attack motorists, cart away their valuables and abduct them in exchange of millions of naira as ransom.

The gunmen suspected to be kidnappers stormed the road from the bush before the Sagamu Interchange en route Lagos and started shooting at motorists in the 18-passenger inter-state bus.

According to one of the victims who craved anonymity, “We (passengers) were only lucky to escape the gunmen but many of us have been injured by the bullets and our bus has been badly damaged too.”

Another video shows a man who survived bullet wounds recounting his experience saying, “I thought I was dead, having been shot by them.

“They faced our vehicle shooting at us, we all lay down except the driver who was the target. They thought we were all dead and retreated into the bush.

“The joint patrol team of police officers from Ogun and Oyo states arrived at the scene later.

All attempts to reach the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, for further details proved abortive as of the time of filing this report. He did not take his calls nor reply to the text message sent to his phone.