As travellers continue to count the number of manpower lost to the gridlock on the flooded Abuja-Lokoja highway, there are indications that the situation may grow worse.
This is as a result of a truck that fell on the alternative road created by the relevant authorities to coordinate the movement of vehicles which has practically made vehicular movement impossible.
When LEADERSHIP visited the road yesterday, the gridlock had stretched to about 20 kilometres causing drivers coming through Abuja to occupy both lanes on the single carriage road in order to circumvent the overwhelming queue of vehicles and motorists.
When contacted for comment on the situation, the Director in charge of North Central, Osemeilu Ihenyen, blamed the gridlock on the impatience of drivers who would rather occupy both lanes than being orderly, by obeying basic traffic rules.
He also revealed that following the reclamation of a portion of the flooded road, vehicular movement on the road had been free until recent down pour which made the road impassable.
According to him, even though the ministry had constructed a diversion (alternative route) to enable free flow of traffic, concerted efforts is in place to ensure that in the shortest time, the road would be fully opened for travellers.
He called on other relevant government agencies such as the federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the police and other security agencies to deploy resources to the area to ensure a free flow of traffic and also ensure the security of travellers, as according to him, there are reports that hoodlums have taken advantage of the situation to exploit stranded travellers.