Lagos — FOR several hours yesterday, Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, was brought to a standstill by an early morning downpour.

At least, one person, a middle-aged man, died in his vehicle after he was held up in the chaotic traffic jam sparked off by the rain. Many residents were forced to stay indoors by the downpour.

A section of the Oshodi-Apapa expressway close to Coker and Second Rainbow Bus Stops was covered by flood leaving only a narrow path for vehicles to pass. There was another extensive pool of water close to the Mile Two Section of the expressway.

The two pools of water led to a traffic gridlock that stretched from Mile Two to Ijesha Bus Stop. Another stretch of the traffic jam was also noticed from Berger Yard Bus Stop on the way to the nation's major sea port at Apapa, also located along the same road.

The situation forced many commercial vehicles off the roads while the few who operated charged very high fares. As a result of the downpour and the resulting traffic jam, many commuters were stranded at bus stops in many parts of the metropolis.

At Cele Bus Stop, along the expressway, there was a huge crowd of commuters without any bus in sight at about 2 p.m. When an Apapa bound bus stopped at the bus stop, a group of commuters rushed and struggled to enter.

When two hefty men (one of which sat on the laps of the other) eventually made it into the bus, the driver announced to them that the fare to Apapa was N200. The conductor had earlier said it was N150. The fare used to fluctuate between N50 and N70 at normal times.

At Oshodi, there was a huge crowd of commuters waiting for buses that were nowhere in sight.

The few buses that were available charged N200 for the Oshodi- Apapa trip.

A commuter who spoke to Vanguard at Oshodi said bus drivers hiked the fare to as high as N500 in the morning. He said he had to return to his home at Egbeda in Alimosho Local Government Area but later had to restart the journey when he was asked to compulsorily report to the office.

A motorist told Vanguard that he was trapped in the traffic between Cele Bus Stop and First Rainbow Bus Stop for close to four hours and was eventually forced to abandon his car along the road. He said he pledged to pay the sum of N500 to some security men in the area who promised to look after the car.

He said he trekked to his office located somewhere close to Berger Yard Bus Stop.

"It was terrible. From about 10 a.m. when I got to Cele Bus Stop, the road was completely blocked all the way to Mile Two," he said.

A lady who said she lives at the Jakande Low Cost Housing Estate at Mile Two said when she got to the estate's bus stop along the expressway at about 10 a.m, there was no commercial bus in sight and the road was flooded.

"I decided to walk to my office and on my way overheard some other commuters who wanted to take a bike to Apapa. The bike rider said the fare was N1000 per person and those who could afford it agreed to pay," she said.

Another resident of the city who resides at Iba near Lagos State University (LASU) said he went through a hellish experience to get to his office.

According to him, "although the fare from Iba to Iyana-Iba along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway was hiked by about 150 per cent, the real hell was to get to Mile Two from Iyana-Iba.

"There were only few buses available at Iyana-Iba yesterday. Commuters had to fight and struggle to board the few buses that were available. The fare for the journey from Iyana-Iba to Mile Two used to be N50 but it went up to N100 or N150 in some cases," he said.

He complained that even after paying the hiked fare, commuters were not able to get to their destination due to a heavy traffic jam which stretched from Mile Two to Agboju Bus Stop.

"If I had decided to stay there I could have spent another three hours in the traffic jam," he said, adding that he had to take a bike from Agboju to Mile Two which attracted a fare of N200 and that he was lucky to get the bike.

Another resident of the city who resides at Ijora said he spent over an hour at Ijora Bus Stop before he boarded a bus which conveyed him to Mile Two. He said the fare was hiked from N50 to N100 and he spent about an hour on the trip which used to last about 20 minutes.

He said many petrol tankers on the road worsened the traffic jam.

Acme Road at Ogba area of Ikeja was also flooded. It was also learnt that there was heavy traffic jam along Iju and College Roads. Ijaye Road, Ogba and Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi were also jammed with heavy traffic.

Man dies behind wheels

A motorist, identified by the Police as Timothy Arulobi of 25, Idimu Road, Ikotun died behind the wheels of his grey-coloured Mercedes Benz V-Boot car at Iyana-Ejigbo after he was held in traffic jam.

Vanguard gathered that passers-by and other motorists only knew that he was dead after his car failed to move even after vehicles in his front had moved.