THE CARNAGE ON OTEDOLA BRIDGE

The authorities must do more to curb the deadly crashes

While questions are being asked about the frequency of accidents on the Otedola Bridge, the Lagos State government insists that structural assessments conducted with federal authorities show no core engineering defects, attributing the recurring crashes to reckless driving, indiscipline, and overloaded heavy-duty trucks. But in the latest accident on the bridge located at the Lagos end of the expressway to Ibadan, a diesel tanker carrying 33,000 litres plunged off the bridge and burst into flames beneath the structure. The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and others were able to contain the blaze which left two men with severe degree-burns.

There are arguments that repeated mishaps on Otedola Bridge may be due to severe structural engineering defects. Indeed, some safety and structural experts contend that the bridge has two major engineering defects. One, the road is too slippery hence the need for resurfacing with more coarse asphalt materials in order for vehicles not to lose tyre grip. Two, the approach to the bridge is downward sloppy which means vehicles descend into a valley and start climbing up almost at the same time, on a very slippery surface.

Built in 1978 and named after a former governor of Lagos State, Sir Michael Otedola, the bridge has, over the years, become notorious for deadly tanker explosions, fallen containers and trucks as well as multiple vehicle collisions. In the last three years alone, it has recorded about 15 accidents, many of them fatal. On 1 September 2023, a wheat-laden truck fell off the bridge, killing one occupant while on 7 January 2025, four trucks were involved in catastrophic crashes, killing one person and injuring three others. On 29 March 2025, newly wedded Chidozie and Joan Okoye were burnt alive along with others on the bridge when a tanker laden with gas caught fire.

Barely a month ago on 16 September, a containerised truck lost control and rammed into multiple vehicles, trapping passengers and causing severe damage on the busiest transport corridor in the country. But perhaps the defining tragedy on the Lagos bridge occurred on 28 June 2018, when a petroleum tanker lost control, spilled its contents and exploded. The body count was 12 dead, while 54 vehicles went up in flames. Expectedly, the crashes were accompanied by traffic chaos and massive gridlock, some lasting the entire day.

To be sure, traffic accidents are commonplace in Nigeria due mainly to bad roads, poor vehicle maintenance, disregard for traffic rules in addition to regulatory failure. But drivers of petroleum tankers, heavy trucks and other articulated vehicles constitute a special risk to other road users across Nigeria as they are a law unto themselves. The manner in which they go about terrorising other road users had always left the impression whether the drivers were under some instruction to break the rules of civilised conduct.

The disturbing history of crashes on the Otedola Bridge bears these familiar streaks.  The serial fatal incidents are attributed largely to the lawlessness of heavy-duty drivers, speeding, and poor state of the vehicles, including brake failures. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has reported 256 road traffic crashes on Otedola Bridge, the nearby Kara Bridge and the OPIC corridor between January 2018 and June 2020. According to the report, 39 crashes occurred on Otedola Bridge, representing 15 per cent, with speed violations as the chief culprit, in addition to brake and mechanical failures, and tyre bursts.  Heavy-duty truck drivers in particular lose control while descending the bridge and negotiating the bends at unsafe speed.

While the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi insists that integrity tests jointly conducted with federal authorities have proved conclusively that there are no structural defects with the bridge, there is an urgent need to put an end to these catastrophic crashes.