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Thousands of commuters traveling along the Abuja-Kaduna highway on Sunday were trapped in prolonged traffic congestion as the rush for the Eid-el-Kabir celebration intensified ahead of Wednesday’s festivities.
The situation, which began on Saturday, has been worsened by ongoing rehabilitation works on sections of the motorway, forcing motorists to move to multiple diversion points and alternative routes.
The heavy traffic buildup stretched for several kilometres, leaving travelers stranded for hours and disrupting commercial transport activities along one of Nigeria’s busiest highways.
Motorists resort to alternative routes
A commercial driver, Bello Musa, said the worst traffic congestion was recorded around Jere intersection and Katari axis, where motorists spent several hours without moving.
According to him, many motorists now divert through Jere town before connecting the Kafanchan-Kachia road in a bid to reconnect to Kaduna and avoid the most congested parts of the expressway.
He further explained that some motorists now completely avoid the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway by traveling through Bwari Road from Abuja and connecting through Mararaban-Guma before connecting to Kafanchan-Kachia Road in Kaduna.
While Musa described parts of the road near the SCC junction around Bwari as in poor condition, he noted that commuters were relieved by the absence of any recent safety incidents along the route.
Transportation rates skyrocket
Officials from the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) said the traffic jam had already triggered a sharp increase in freight rates along key northern routes.
An official of the NURTW at Zuba Motor Park, Abdullahi Adamu, disclosed that transport fares from Abuja to Kano had increased from about ₦12,000 to almost ₦20,000 due to delays and increased passenger demand.
He added that several drivers had temporarily suspended operations due to excessive time spent on the road.
“Some of our drivers who left Zuba at around 3pm on Saturday only arrived in Kano at 2am, whereas normally the journey takes around six hours,” he said.
The development has left many passengers frustrated, some of whom complain about the financial burden imposed by the sudden increase in fares during the holiday season.
Calls for the temporary suspension of road works
Several motorists and transport union officials have appealed to the authorities to temporarily suspend the ongoing rehabilitation work on the highway and reopen the blocked sections until after the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
According to them, a similar measure adopted during the previous Christmas holidays significantly facilitated traffic and reduced travel times for motorists.
They argued that continuing construction activities during one of the busiest travel periods of the year had worsened congestion and exposed travelers to unnecessary hardship.
Safety concerns grow amid prolonged delays
Adamu also expressed fears that the prolonged traffic jam could expose stranded commuters to attacks by criminal elements operating around isolated areas of the highway.
He warned that some travelers are now forced to spend the night on the road due to unusually long delays.
The Abuja-Kaduna Expressway has witnessed several safety incidents in recent years, making many travelers uncomfortable whenever traffic remains static for prolonged periods.
Travelers recount the ordeal
One traveler, Haruna Ibrahim, described the journey as stressful, exhausting and frustrating.
He explained that what would normally have been a journey of less than three hours took almost six hours due to congestion.
“I left Abuja around 8am and arrived in Kaduna just after 2pm. The journey was smooth until we reached Jere, where we spent more than three hours in traffic,” he said.
Other commuters also complained about slow travel despite the presence of traffic officers along the highway.
FRSC provides warnings to motorists
Meanwhile, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has urged motorists using the Abuja-Kaduna corridor to maintain lane discipline, avoid driving against traffic, obey traffic officials and exercise patience while travelling.
In a statement published on X, the agency attributed the congestion to increased travel for Eid-el-Kabir and ongoing construction work along the highway.
The FRSC identified the Nasarawa Azara stretch between Katari and Jere as the worst affected stretch, noting that careless overtaking and lane indiscipline had worsened the traffic situation.
To facilitate movement, the agency advised motorists traveling between Abuja and Kaduna to use the Kaduna-Kachia-Maraban Kubacha-Jere-Bwari-Dutse Abuja route as an alternative until normal traffic flow is restored.
