Travelers stuck for hours after accidents block Kaduna-Abuja road

Many travelers were stuck for hours on Monday at Gidan Busa, just before Katari, on the Kaduna-Abuja road due to several accidents involving large vehicles.

The traffic jam stretched so far that it seemed endless. Motorists, passengers, and goods were left under the hot sun, causing many to miss important meetings and deliveries.

Sarah Monday, a fashion designer heading to Abuja for a contract meeting, told the News Agency of Nigeria that she “missed the meeting because of the standstill.”

For Monday, the traffic was more than just a jam. It meant she would miss out on a contract meeting in Abuja.

She urged the “Federal Government to complete the highway soon to reduce the hardship faced by its users, especially during Sallah, Christmas, and other festive times.”

Her frustration was felt by everyone stuck in the long line.

Along the road, it was no longer just a route but a waiting area.

Cattle trucks packed with livestock were stuck next to lorries filled with sacks and cargo. Fuel tankers towered over saloon cars and minibuses squeezed into every available space.

With no hope of moving soon, people adapted to the situation.

Passengers climbed on top of the loads, sitting among sacks and cargo with their legs hanging over the edges. Some men sat atop cattle frames, watching the endless queue below. Behind the slats of blue trucks, animals stood in the rising heat.

On the dusty diversion beside the incomplete road, men in long gowns and caps gathered in small groups, hands on hips, speculating about when the traffic might clear.

Some leaned against car doors while others walked the length of the queue, as if measuring it. A few rested in the shade of an excavated bank, leaning against the dirt.

Near a grey estate car, a driver opened the bonnet and bent over the engine, dealing with yet another problem in a place already full of issues.

Beside the dusty diversion, the half-finished road told a story of its own. A smooth stretch of concrete sat next to rough gravel, meant to be the road travelers should use. Yellow wildflowers bloomed on the nearby embankment, unaware of the stalled traffic.

Abubakar Lawal, a driver stuck in the jam, “blamed the gridlock on motorists’ impatience.”

With the situation as it was, he said, “nobody knew when the road would be cleared.”

Another driver, Yusuf Aliyu, said that if he had known the “highway would be in such a state, he would not have embarked on the trip to Abuja at all.”

For those whose work depends on the road, such regrets matter. Every hour lost at Gidan Busa meant delayed deliveries, missed meetings, and tired travelers, as well as animals and perishable goods left in the heat.

Adewale Usman, a businessman, said trailers and other large vehicles were the biggest causes of such problems.

He called on the “Federal Government to ensure that the railways were brought on stream so that fuel tankers and similar vehicles would no longer have to use the highways for long-distance transport across the country.”

His plea reflects a common view among road users: that moving heavy goods by road strains highways that are not built for it, affecting everyone else who uses these roads.

A road safety official, who preferred to remain anonymous, “echoed the drivers’ view, saying the gridlock could have been avoided if drivers had been patient.”

But the official also pointed out a harsher reality behind the day’s delays.

According to him, “no fewer than 20 accidents involving long vehicles occur on the route every month, with many fatalities recorded and animals sometimes affected as well.”

This suggests that Monday’s traffic jam was not a one-time event.

For many who use this road, it is a regular problem where a single crash involving a heavy vehicle can hold up traffic for hours, especially when roadworks have forced vehicles onto narrow detours.

By the time this report was written, patience was wearing thin. Many motorists began to turn back toward Kaduna, saying they would take the Kachia-Bwari road to Abuja instead.

For those who stayed, the wait continued under the sun, with no idea when the line would start moving again.

For travelers like Monday, “the cost of the delay was measured in more than hours. It was the missed meeting, the regretted journey and the hope that the festive seasons ahead would not bring the same ordeal.”

Her plea, like those of the drivers and business people around her, was clear: finish the road, ease the burden on those who use it, and make sure a journey to Abuja does not end at Gidan Busa.