Traffic chaos erupted at the tollgate of Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos yesterday after the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) began enforcing a new cashless payment policy for vehicles entering the airport.
Hundreds of motorists and air travellers were caught in gridlock as congestion built up along the major access road leading to both the domestic and international terminals. Some drivers reportedly spent nearly 20 minutes covering a stretch that would ordinarily take less than a minute.
Passengers, fearing they would miss scheduled flights, were seen abandoning their vehicles to board commercial motorcycles. Despite a ban on motorcycles around the airport axis, riders took advantage of the situation, allegedly inflating fares by as much as 200 per cent for desperate travellers.
The tollgate, a critical entry point to the airport complex, became the scene of heated exchanges between motorists and officials as electronic transfers failed or payment confirmations were delayed. Several affected drivers accused FAAN of poor planning and inadequate public awareness ahead of the policy’s rollout.
One motorist, Adebayo Awojobi, said: “I have been in this traffic for almost an hour. Today (yesterday) is Sunday. How will the traffic here be tomorrow (today)? The officials of the agency here said it was strictly cashless, but they were not prepared for the crowd.”
Responding to the complaints, FAAN’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, said the cashless system was introduced to block revenue leakages and align with the Federal Government’s drive towards a cashless economy.
Agbebire maintained that the policy would reduce extortion and improve revenue generation for the agency, dismissing claims that there had been insufficient publicity.
He also attributed the congestion partly to users who waited until the last minute to obtain or load their access cards. “The card is free, but when you load your N2,000 or N1,000, there is a N500 that goes off for maintenance,” he said.
The disruption comes amid broader concerns within Nigeria’s aviation sector, with recent flight disruptions linked to international tensions and calls from industry stakeholders for improved infrastructure and operational planning.
Authorities have yet to announce whether further adjustments will be made to ease traffic flow as the cashless policy continues to be implemented. Watch the video below…………………..
