By Stephen Gbadamosi
The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Abiodun Adams, has said the protracted attacks on the Lagos – Ibadan expressway are not unexpected, adding that he had raised the alarm on the imminent attacks much earlier, even as the major road linking the South-West to other parts of the country is becoming too volatile for travellers.
Aare Adams, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, on Monday, stated further that the Lagos – Ibadan expressway was too strategic to the South-West region and Nigeria as a whole.
He added that the South West Security Stakeholders Group (SSSG), under his leadership, had earlier raised the alarm last year, while seeking partnership with security agencies on the need to provide the needed surveillance along the road.
The Yoruba generalissimo pointed out that the alarm raised by the SSSG was contained in a letter dated November 4, 2022 which he said was forwarded to both Oyo and Ogun states’ governors, state commissioners of police and the directors of Department of State Services (DSS) in the two states.
Adams maintained also that the alarm came from the intelligence report at the group’s disposal, which he said had been neglected by the security agencies.
“It is sad that you find yourself in a situation where you feel helpless, resulting from the lackadaisical attitudes of the security agencies to the security challenges affecting us in the South-West.
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“The SSSG had severally offered to assist the security agencies in curtailing the security challenges along the Lagos – Ibadan expressway. Our intention is to partner with the police patrol teams in ensuring that the strategic road is safe for travellers.
“The Lagos – Ibadan expressway is very strategic to the South-West and Nigeria and it will be disastrous for us to ignore the road, making terrorists and kidnappers kings of the most important road in Nigeria, even at the expense of travelers,” he said.
Adams, however, gave the assurance that the group was ready to partner with the police to secure the road, even as it would also
continue its surveillance work in ensuring that the region is safe.
“Lagos – Ibadan expressway has been volatile for travellers, with cases of kidnapping on the increase with police officers killed, former UI deputy vice chancellor and students kidnapped, as gunmen have turned the route into haven for terrorists and kidnappers.
“We are ready to flush out terrorists and the kidnappers from their hideouts along the Lagos – Ibadan expressway within two months. We are also ready to partner with the security agencies on surveillance, so as to curtail the spate of insecurity across the region,” he added.
Recall that the university lecturer and some students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnics were abducted last Friday along the expressway.
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