Commercial motorcycle riders, popularly called “Okada riders” in kotonkarfe near Lokoja are feeding fat from the traffic jam created at kotonkarfe axis of Lokoja-Abuja road by flood and break down of an articulated vehicle on the road.
A source, who was a victim of the grid, revealed that Okada riders now cash in on the situation to make brisk business, charging exorbitant fare for a short trip.
“From Abuja onward journey to Lokoja,I boarded a carb and paid N1,500 but on getting to kotonkarfe, we could not proceed to Lokoja.
“From kotonkarfe town, the Okada rider that conveyed me to the next place of about three kilometres to where I border another vehicle to Lokoja charged me N2,000 and in some instances, some other passengers said they paid N2,500 for the short trip.
He described his experience emanating from the gridock as very unpalatable.
According to him, even though some personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps FRSC, were on ground to check the gridlock,”the situation is just too much for them to contain.”
Our Correspondent reports that the twin problems;the flood that submerged road at kotonkarfe and the breakdown of an articulated vehicle on the road caused the traffic jam that the victims said inflicted untold harship on them.
However, feelers from kotonkarfe told The Reporters that the problem has eased with improvement in vehicular movement.
Meanwhile, fear has gripped residents of Lokoja, particularly victims of flood in kogi state, following rumours making round that authorities in Cameron had again released more waters from Lagdo dam, one of the major factors said to be responsible for the flood in Lokoja.
The Reporters observed that the rumour became rife at a time flood showed sign of receding in Lokoja and its environs.
