The Redeemed Christian Church of God has risen to the rescue of users of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as it undertook the repair of the Arepo and Warewa ends of the road on Wednesday.
PUNCH Metro observed some trucks belonging to the church filling up bad portions of the road.
The development has eased traffic on the expressway inward Ogun State but the situation remains unchanged on the other side of the road, inward Lagos State.
An official in the media department of the RCCG confirmed the development to our correspondent on the telephone, adding that the church had plans for more palliatives.
The officer, who asked not to be named, said the church was moved by the cries of users of the road and deployed a team to assess the situation on Tuesday.
She said, “We sent some of our men to go and see what was going on and assess the situation. They returned and gave a report so we deployed some trucks of granite to the place and they used them to fill up the potholes.
“We are not going to stop at that. We also plan to fill up the Lotto area of Mowe, because traffic usually builds up there as well. We will do this before our next congress.”
Our correspondent, however, observed some trucks and caterpillars belonging to the Ogun State Ministry of Works clearing the drainage.
An official, who asked not to be named, said the clearing was to allow for a smooth passage of water, adding that it had nothing to do with road construction.
He said, “We are not in charge of road construction and it is not our duty to do it. You should go and ask Julius Berger Construction Company what they are doing about the road.
“We have been working since yesterday (Tuesday) and we are just trying to clear the drainage which we believe has been responsible for the flooding on the road. We are doing this to ease the traffic, especially for residents of Ogun State who are always faced with traffic congestion.”
PUNCH Metro observed that a 40-foot container conveying millet to Lagos had an accident around the Arepo area and fell on the median.
Some men were seen evacuating its content into another truck, which was parked by the roadside.
One of the workers said, “The accident happened very early in the morning as the vehicle was heading to Lagos. As you can see, it was conveying bags of millet. Nobody was injured.”
Policemen from the Warewa police post and officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps were observed by PUNCH Metro directing the traffic from the accident scene.
The Sector Commander, FRSC, Ogun State, Mr. Adegoke Adetunji, said he would call back, but he had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, the Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, inspected the palliative work on the expressway in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Amosun said that the development became imperative in view of the importance of the road to socio-economic development of the country.
According to Governor Amosun, the palliative measure, being put in place is expected to last for about a month and repair works would be done mainly at night.
He, however, appealed to road users to show understanding and bear with the government, pending the time the palliative measure would be carried out.
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