Gridlock on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as plants overrun Ogun River

Residents, workers and passers-by on Saturday besieged Kara along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to view the sudden appearance of plants which grew on a section of the Ogun River.

A large number of people stormed the area with their phones and recording devices, while some went as far as walking over the water plants and praying.

Though several eyewitnesses described the occurrence as “strange and mysterious,” geological experts told SUNDAY PUNCH that the plants were simply rapidly growing seaweed and that the incident was not extraordinary.

Our correspondent, who visited the site on Saturday, observed that a significant expanse of the river had been carpeted by a massive layer of the vegetation.

Scores of residents, including children, were walking, playing and praying atop the plant-covered river.

Michael Fagbenro, a panel beater with a workshop located at the Kara riverbank, said those in the area began to notice the plants surface at about 8am on Friday.

He said, “It started gradually; the plants were flowing with the river. But by 12pm, the water began to flow forcefully and brought a lot more plants. It accumulated at a very rapid rate.

“By Friday afternoon, it had completely covered the river. I have been here for over five years and this has never happened. It is obviously not normal. This is unbelievable. When I saw it, I was afraid because it is so strange.”

Asked if he had attempted taking a walk on the seaweed, Fagbenro exclaimed frighteningly, “Who, me? I don’t have the courage to walk over it! I am not one of those born here and I cannot swim. I am even sure that when the plants leave, they will take someone with them.”

Mrs. Christiana Monday-Egbu, a local trader, similarly said she and other workers at the site were fearful at the occurrence on Friday.

The cassava processing business owner, who set up shop by the river over a year ago, said, “It was around 10am when the water started gushing, carrying the plants with the waves. It wasn’t even raining when it started.

“People were startled when it started. It all happened so fast. I have never witnessed such a strange occurrence in my life. Everyone rushed out to watch with surprise.”

Another Kara-based trader of over three years, Mrs. Love Itoro, said prior to the strange development, canoes plied the river, conveying passengers, mostly traders, from one side to the other.

The food vendor explained that at the climax of the incident, a canoe was caught in the middle of the river with five passengers who were meat sellers.

“When the plants started coming in large amounts, it blocked the boat and almost made it sink. The driver quickly came down onto the plants to help the passengers carry their meat. People from the other side then threw a rope and pulled the boat back to safety,” Itoro said.

Mrs. Ability Udoh, a trader at Kara for five years, said the occurrence was not entirely strange. According to her, occasionally, the river would bring sea-based plants.

Udoh, however, admitted that she had never witnessed it in such magnitude.

“We are happy that nobody died,” she said.

Two other traders, Mercy and Blessing of Calabar extraction, said they were shocked and afraid when the incident occurred.

Mercy said, “I too was so scared because I have never seen something like this.”

Blessing added, “I saw someone lying down on the plants on Friday; I was so scared. I cannot believe how daring some people are.”

In an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday, Dr. Folorunsho Adetayo of the Department of Geosciences, University of Lagos, identified the plants as seaweed.

According to the environmental geoscientist, seaweed is a regenerative product of algae.

Adetayo said, “The plants are not harmful. People can come in contact with them without being harmed. The rainy season definitely contributes to it. I cannot say that it is the first time this is happening.

“It could have happened in the past. During certain periods of time, the algae proliferate and are formed around the river course.”

He also dismissed claims that the river had dried up, noting that the algae had the ability to reproduce and regenerate itself at a rapid rate within hours.

He said, “No, the river cannot just dry up in the rainy season for that matter. It is an experience that is not restricted to Nigeria. At least, personally, I have witnessed it in Qingdao, China, two years ago.”

Adetayo however warned, “The government, however, needs to remove the plants because if allowed to stay long, it can become toxic to plants and animals, including human beings.”

A Professor of Applied Geophysics, Department of Geosciences, UNILAG, Elijah Ayolabi, in an electronic mail, also explained that the occurrence was not strange.

He said, “To the ordinary man, this may be strange, but to those of us who have conducted geophysical investigations and geological mapping around that area, it is not strange. However, I will like to see it myself and provide scientific deductions of the occurrence.”

http://www.punchng.com/gridlock-lagos-ibadan-expressway-plants-overrun-ogun-river/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btTugFe6TZE

Photo credit: http://www.newshelm.com/2016/06/photos-river-turn-to-dry-land-in-ojodu.html

i have not seen anything like this in my life!!! there is water on the other end of the bridge and here is as dry as if water as never touched here..

where is the photo of the other side of the bridge with water ?

This is a pure lie. See the ground level and the level the houses around the supposed river land are?:are those houses under water before?

na so tsunami dey take startoo!

Naija I hail o!

Ok, I can recognise the Blue house in the first pic but what I don't understand is that how come the river bed is now covered with 'bush' or vegetation . Ain't it supposed to be muddy?

I just passed the place and say it with my eyes. It's true. We went to redemption camp in the morning for SOD lectures and it was all flowing. Upon coming back we saw a crowD gathering on the bridge snapping pics and we were thinking that something terrible was going on. Only to see that the ex river was now like a forest that was recently plowed like d pic and people were running over it and white birds landing. We now looked at the other side and it was still flowing water. It even just rained this morning. Nawah o. I don't even know what to say.

I witnessed it live

This is strange

This sounds like some Alien stuff. Never heard of stuff like that.

I created a thread on this in the morning. It is so true. I don't think it will stay dry for long because there is water on the other side.

I saw prople there too but how do we explain this? Is this God or some people testing powers?

So nobody fit snap the other side of the bridge bah? We all wanna see what's between the 'flowing' river and this dry land.


Judging by the landscape though, I believe a river once flow thru that place.

obiekunie1:
na so tsunami dey take startoo!

water receding bah? I don't want to believe that is the case here.

unitysheart:
This is a pure lie. See the ground level and the level the houses around the supposed river land are?:are those houses under water before?

see this one. Op said river not an ocean.

Ave not seen this in my life too, buh i smell sumtin bad is about to happen. May God save 4rm dis evil world!

SOON REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS WILL WANT TO CASH ON SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY

unitysheart:
This is a pure lie. See the ground level and the level the houses around the supposed river land are?:are those houses under water before?

Guy this is no lie at all at all.Are you in lagos then take a trip there before you start accusing the op of falsehood.

If I didn't go there myself I would have thought it's a falacy. The amazing thing is that according to those living there, the river was there just this morning. Since channels tv have reported the story am patiently waiting for any scientific explanation or else this would be one of the strangest thing I have seen this year.

aoluwa1:
I just passed the place and say it with my eyes. It's true. We went to redemption camp in the morning for SOD lectures and it was all flowing. Upon coming back we saw a crowD gathering on the bridge snapping pics and we were thinking that something terrible was going on. Only to see that the ex river was now like a forest that was recently plowed like d pic and people were running over it and white birds landing. We now looked at the other side and it was still flowing water. It even just rained this morning. Nawah o. I don't even know what to say.

Are you saying the drying of the river happens less than 24hrs?

heard it today....God is awesome

TGM2015:

Are you saying the drying of the river happens less than 24hrs?

Less than 18hours, it was there this morning and I was there around 4pm this eveing. That site is a mecca of sort now, the crowd there this evening is growing large and large by the second.

maddock:


Less than 18hours, it was there this morning and I was there around 4pm this eveing. That site is a mecca of sort now, the crowd there this evening is growing large and large by the second.

Thank you, just to confirm. God is wonderful.

I am going to experience this news first hand tomorrow .

Lalasticlala this SNAKE River don dry o .

Strange

cc lalasticlala

I laughed so hard when someone told me thinking it's a joke

We can science this schit.

The water was from a dam that has now been shut - maybe temporarily.

The green vegetation is from the water lilies that have now settled on the ground - must have been pretty dense cover in the first place. They will not be green for long.

The ground is firm, and not particularly silty or muddy because it was always hard compressed clay, overburdened over a long long time and most likely artificially leveled to allow thoroughfare. Juxtapose with the adjoining highland right to the left of it (those shanties- any regular commuter on the route knows where I refer) and the picture becomes evident.

I don't think Nigerian scientist can explain this, because we are actually waiting till 2018 to produce pencil

BoboYekini:
We can science this schit.

The water was from a dam that has now been shut - maybe temporarily.

The green vegetation is from the water lilies that have now settled on the ground - must have been pretty dense cover in the first place. They will not be green for long.

The ground is firm, and not particularly silty or muddy because it was always hard compressed clay, overburdened over a long long time and most likely artificially leveled to allow thoroughfare. Juxtapose with the adjoining highland right to the left of it (those shanties- any regular commuter on the route knows where I refer) and the picture becomes evident.

Bros haha... all this scientific deduction without prior history or visting the site to see things for yourself, how do you explain the water that keeps flowing on the other side, i guess there is another dam supplying that one going by your logic

thelastmediator:


Bros haha... all this scientific deduction without prior history or visting the site to see things for yourself, how do you explain the water that keeps flowing on the other side, i guess there is another dam supplying that one going by your logic

I'd like to see the other side. Really.

BoboYekini:
I'd like to see the other side. Really.

Scroll up, the fourth picture is the other side.

unitysheart:
This is a pure lie. See the ground level and the level the houses around the supposed river land are?:are those houses under water before?

those are submerged by the water it not a lie