Motorists, commuters panic as criminals take over Benin-Sagamu expressway
- Motorists and commuters plying the Benin-Sagamu expressway are worried about consistent armed robbery attack on the highway
- It was learnt that the highway has become a den of armed robbers and kidnappers
- Some of the commuters now travel by air instead of plying the highway
Motorists and commuters plying the Benin-Sagamu expressway have expressed worry over the safety of their lives and property.
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Some of the commuters expressed their fear on Friday, February 9, saying that the highway, particularly the bad spots near Ore and Ofosu/Ohosu towns, had become the den of armed robbers and kidnappers, Punch reports.
Legit.ng gathered that some regular travellers on the major highway had started making use of alternative routes while others who had the financial means, now travelled by air.
According to some of the travellers, the most disturbing phenomenon was the alarming rate at which the hoodlums carry out their dangerous activities in broad daylight, with no security agent to rescue their victims.
It was gathered that many travellers had been killed by the armed bandits, while many had been kidnapped on the expressway, especially at the Ore and Ofosu end of the road.
Speaking on the issue, a commercial bus driver, Adeyemi Adewara, said that his Lagos-bound passengers now preferred to go through the Ilesa-Ibadan route to Lagos, which is longer.
A Benin-based businessman, Paul Chukwuma, said he had been travelling to Lagos by air since the law enforcement agents failed to provide solution to the menace.
He said: “I can’t put my life at risk. The Shagamu-Ore-Benin expressway is very dangerous to ply these days. That is why I travel by air which is very expensive.”
Sunday Akindiji, a driver with an Akure-based transport company, said he had convinced his employers on the need to make use of alternative routes to Lagos.
Ondo state commissioner for information, Yemi Olowolabi, said said Governor Rotimi Akeredolu had been meeting regularly with security chiefs in the state on the issue.
Olowolabi said: "The security agencies in the state are doing their best and many of these hoodlums are being arrested on daily basis.”
The police public relations officer in the state, Femi Joseph, said: “We have our men on patrol on the road and they are doing well. We always arrest the hoodlums and we won’t relent. Ondo State is not safe for criminals.”
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the police in Ogun state arrested two armed robbery suspects at Kara area on the long bridge axis of the Lagos/Ibadan expressway while planning to carry out their nefarious acts.
It was gathered that the suspects were said to have been arrested in the early hours of Thursday, January 2, following intelligence report that a gang of robbers were planning to unleash terror on motorists plying the highway.
Ogun state police public relations officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement, said that a report was made at a police division attached to the redemption camp, and that the DPO in charge of the division, SP Olaiya Martins, ordered his men to effect the arrest of the suspects.
Legit.ng visits kidnappers' den discovered in Lagos - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
