26th October, 2010
Patronage of ferry services in the Ikorodu part of Lagos State has reduced following the receding of the flood that engulfed the community and its environs.
Ikorodu and neighbouring communities had been flooded for some weeks in the flood that resulted from the release of water from Oyan Dam into the Ogun River, which consequently overflew its bank.
Th News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the flood sacked many residents of the communities and resulted in daily traffic gridlock on the equally flooded Ikorodu-Lagos Road.
This forced many commuters in the area to resort to the use of ferry services.
Commuters daily thronged the Metro Ferry Services jetty in Ikorodu in large numbers for services. Some of them were getting to the jetty as early as 5:30 a.m. to be able to secure tickets.
However, the receding of the flood had reduced the time spent in traffic on the Ikorodu-Lagos Road, making some commuters to revert to road transportation.
NAN reports that the Metro Ferry Services jetty, hitherto overcrowded, now records less passengers.
NAN correspondent who monitored activities at the jetty on Monday, saw less than a hundred commuters buying tickets, contrary to about 900 daily in the past few weeks.
A worker at the jetty, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that there had been reduced patronage since the flood started receding last week.
“We used to sell between 900 and 1,000 tickets everyday when commuters were avoiding the traffic jam on the Ikorodu-Lagos Road, but now, we sell about 300 tickets daily,†he said.
