Many parts of Lagos metropolis were locked down by traffic gridlock following a heavy rainfall today, perhaps the worst flood ever experienced in the Nigerian city of 30 million people.
The highbrow Lekki-Victoria Island axis was seriously affected with motorists spending up to six hours to escape the water-logged roads and expressway. Some homes in Victoria Garden City, estates around Chevron and Lekki One, were flooded.
A motorist said he spent four and half hours from Alausa in Ikeja to reach Alimosho, a journey usually not more than 45 minutes on the Lagos Mainland.
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On the Lekki-Expressway, the entire road was water-logged and traffic moved at a terribly snail-speed. Ahmadu Bello in Victoria Island that houses the popular Galleria was literally forbidden to traffic as the flood water reached more than knee length. Video image about the popular street showed a man paddling a canoe from one side to the other.
Many motorists trapped in the Lekki-Ajah Road had to turn back, after many hours of being held in the slow traffic.
A female lawyer who had an appointment with a client in Victoria Island spoke about how she left her home in Ajah at 9a.m. Six hours after, she was still at Lekki First Gate and had to call off the appointment.
“It is really a bad day for us in Lagos”, said the lawyer.
NAN
