The rising cases of hit-and-run accidents, particularly with drivers moving against traffic, have alarmed residents near U-Turn and Salolo bus stops on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. They fear that, without government intervention, the situation will worsen.

Residents told FIJ that at least three people have been killed by speeding vehicles in the last two months, with many others injured and offered nothing more than an empty apology. They said that drivers have increasingly resorted to using the opposite lane due to the worsening condition of the expressway.

Lawrence Babatunde, a resident of Meiran, told FIJ that he now has to be more careful when crossing from one side of the Lagos-Abeokuta Road to another because vehicles driving against traffic have taken over the road.

READ ALSO: Akute, Alagbole Roads Remain Unfinished After 3 Years of Dapo Abiodun’s Empty Promises

“The worst thing is that they are usually transporters who are not patient. In July, a boy returning from school was knocked down by a speeding vehicle. The driver refused to wait but instead sped off. The boy later died,” Babatunde told FIJ.

Babatunde told FIJ that the drivers had started driving against traffic for a long time at a mild rate, but the driving got worse as the road from U-Turn continued to worsen. But even at that time, Babatunde said, there were cases of hit-and-run accidents.

“One teacher on my street died in 2023 after a hit-and-run driver knocked him down at Meiran Bus Stop. It was the people of my street that brought his corpse home,” he recalled.

The recklessness of the one-way drivers in the area, according to Maggie Funmilayo, a resident of Meiran, has led to the death of at least five people at Meiran Bus Stop in 2024 alone.

READ ALSO: Inside Ogun Community Where Residents Cross Black Pond to Continue Road Journey

Funmilayo told FIJ that one day in August, she saw bloodstains on the good side of the Meiran road and asked a driver what happened. She said the driver told her another driver hit a man and ran away.

“My driver said the man who was hit did not die immediately but minutes later because no one would help him. But the driver who knocked him down did not care and ran away. The only solution to this problem is for the government to repair the road from the U-Turn bus stop,” Funmilayo told FIJ.

Nneka Obi, another Meiran resident, said that due to the rising hit-and-run cases she had become extremely careful around the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway since she lost a man in her neighbourhood.

READ ALSO: 3 Years After, Road Used to Campaign for Dapo Abiodun Still Makes Life Difficult for Users

Suggesting solutions to eradicate this problem, Obi told FIJ that the transporters would not have to drive against traffic if the roads were good. She said that the government should shift its focus to the area for them to have peace.

When FIJ visited the area, FIJ found that there was no asphalt or a sign of the government’s presence from U-Turn to Meiran. Only broken rocks were on the ground at U-Turn. Between Obadeyi Bus stop and Meiran Bus stop, there were pieces of gravel strewn in an uncoordinated manner, deep potholes, stones and signs that a functional road used to be there.

When FIJ called Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), to find out if the police were aware of this problem, his line did not connect.

FIJ called and sent a text message to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Sunday. It had not responded at press time and the phone lines failed to connect.