Some of the residents of Oyo State have openly expressed their fears and trepidations over some of the cases of some of the incessant attacks and the abductions which have taken place on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
While some of the residents who had spoken to Newsmen enjoined the police and some of the other regular security agencies to beef up security along the road, some of the others are of the opinion that the newly established Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) which is also known as Amotekun, the vigilante and other local security outfits should be involved in tackling the menace.
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The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which starts at Berger in Lagos and ends at Iwo Road in Ibadan, is about one hundred and twenty kilometres (120 klm) and the road, which lies between Oyo, Ogun State and Lagos States, is one of the busiest roads in the country.
It has also been described as the gateway for some of the travellers from most parts of the country to access Lagos, the former capital of Nigeria.
However, several attacks have been recorded along the expressway only this year and the gunmen, who usually dress in military uniform, use the opportunity to abduct travellers.
In January this year, no fewer than five cases of kidnapping were recorded along the road. The abductors during one of the operations in January at Abule Onigari killed a commercial driver identified as Oluwatosin Aruwajoye.
Also, on Saturday, January 8, they abducted five passengers, while another person, Ibrahim Tiamiyu, was shot in the thigh and it had also been reported that an actress, Bimpe Akintunde and her daughter escaped from being kidnapped at the same location on Sunday, January 9, 2022.
The constant attacks and abductions on the road in January this year attracted the attention of security agencies to move to the area.
This brought some sense of relief for travellers plying the road between January and October this year.
While users were still celebrating normalcy on the road, news broke that some travellers had been kidnapped. This occurred last October and it had been reported that several travellers were abducted on Friday, October 28, 2022.
Some of those who were abducted included a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) of University of Ibadan, Professor Adigun Agbaje. Agbaje, had been released after an unspecified amount of money had been paid to the abductors as ransom.
Several other travellers, including Princess Temilola Oyediran and some students were also kidnapped on that day.
Princess Oyediran, one of the daughters of Onpetu of Ijeru kingdom in Oyo State, Oba Sunday Oladapo Oyediran, had been released after some amount of money was allegedly paid as ransom.
Meanwhile, some residents of Oyo State have expressed various reactions over the recent development.
A former member of the Oyo State House of Assembly, who represented Iseyin/Itesiwaju constituency between 2015 and 2019, Hon. Afeez Adeleke, enjoined the security agencies to intensify efforts in taming the recent kidnapping on the road.
Adeleke said that he had the conviction that security agencies know what to do if they want to discharge their responsibilities.
He said that the government of the State (Oyo) should also encourage and motivate the security agents to do their job.
Adeleke said, “Well, thank you for giving me this opportunity to express my opinion as regards to kidnapping in Ibadan-Lagos Expressway, as well as Oyo State.
“I will just suggest that the Executive Governor of Oyo State and the security agencies intensify more effort to curb these ungodly activities and arrest the perpetrators in the State.
“It is my strong belief that security agencies know what to do if they seriously want to discharge their responsibility. Let the government of the State encourage and motivate the entire citizens to support them to do the needful on time”.
An alumnus of the University of Ibadan who begged not to be named, said that she has decided not to travel on the road until further notice.
She said, “I have not used the road in a while but reports about insecurity there are very scary and I might not be using the route till the kidnappings have stopped. Don’t put my name, ‘biko’”.
Another resident of the State, Mr. Biodun Adebayo, urged the government to allow men of Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun to go to the area and chase out the kidnappers.
He said, “From my view, I think the government should allow or tell Amotekun to go up and down in that area”.
Meanwhile, the Oyo and Ogun State police commands have said that they had restructured their security apparatus.
The two commands made this disclosure recently.
Commissioners of Police in the two States, Adebowale Williams (Oyo) and Lanre Bankole (Ogun) during a visit to the road on Thursday, said that the two commands have resolved to tackle incessant cases of attacks and kidnapping along the road.
Public Relations Officer of Oyo command, Adewale Osifeso, in a statement issued on Thursday, said that security architecture of the two States have been remodelled.