BY OLORUNSOLA JOHN OLUDAISI
There are strong indications that with the increasing rates of crime in the most populous black nation, Nigeria may be heading in the direction of Afghanistan if care is not taken, and urgent solution is proffered on the lingering crisis.
No doubt the national security is being threatening and with the look of things, the Nigerian government is losing grips with the way is has been responding to the daily crime reports.
In January 2022 alone, no fewer than two 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.
An actress, Bimpe Akintunde and her daughter escaped from being kidnapped at the same location on Sunday, January 9, 2022.
If the latest kidnapped incident near Dominion University and the Shagamu Interchange on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the past weeks is anything to go by, the country is indeed under siege. The gunmen, who usually dress in military uniform, use the opportunity to abduct travelers.
The road, which lies between Oyo, Ogun State and Lagos States, is one of the busiest roads in the country. It is the gateway for travelers from most parts of the country to access Lagos, the former capital of Nigeria.
Victims of the kidnaps included the former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Professor Adigun Agbaje, and five others. Agbaje was released after payment of a ransom running into millions of naira.
Several other travellers, including Princess Temilola Oyediran and some students were also kidnapped on that day.
Our correspondent learnt that Princess Oyediran, one of the daughters of Onpetu of Ijeru kingdom in Oyo State, Oba Sunday Oladapo Oyediran, was released after some amount of money was allegedly paid as ransom.
Kidnapping has become a lucrative business and the government seems helpless, no wonder the security agencies are equally paying ransoms to secure the release of their operatives from the kidnappers’ dens.
Reports also had it that suspected Fulani bandits attacked travelers on October 27, 2022, abducting five persons and killing several others. Two days after, on October 29th, seven bandits in Irele Ekiti-Oke Ako Highway in Ajoni Local Council Development Area, Ekiti State abducted four travelers.
One of the survivors of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway kidnapping, 22-year-old Aminat Taiwo, said the ‘kidnappers were more than 30; they covered their faces. They were putting on army and police uniforms. She later added that they shot victims, whose relatives could not pay the demanded ransoms.
On Tuesday, November 8 this year, gunmen dressed in military uniforms again attacked commuters travelling on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The gunmen reportedly stormed the road near Sagamu Interchange Lagos and started shooting at passengers in the 18-passenger inter-state bus.
The development generated tension along the expressway as several vehicles aborted the trips to their destination and drove in the opposite direction.
“I can confirm some motorists have just been kidnapped near Dominion University, Ibadan. Many vehicles had to turn back but the road is free as I am talking to you.
“I saw three vehicles with their doors wide open and not a single person was found inside the three vehicles and there is no trace of where they ran to.
“One of the cars smashed it bonnet on the wall while the one behind jammed it from behind but there no sign of accident. We are sure it was a case of kidnap because the vehicles were empty.
“At first, we taught it was robbery but if it was not. We should have seen those that were robbed. There was nobody at the scene when my vehicle got there,” an eyewitness recounted.
This was a case too many for the people to bear in a society where there is King and Chiefs. Because they are not checkmated, the kidnappers and bandits had become more daring.
In the past few weeks, the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan expressway has turned to another dangerous route with kidnappers gradually making it their operational base especially the Ibadan axis of the expressway with kidnapping taking place daily.
In some instances, killing innocent people including policemen who attempt to clear the gunmen holding travelers to ransom.
Unfortunately, when the police want to react to the report of these incidents, they would first claim ignorance, only for them to say later that “our men have been draft to the scene of the incident and they are on top of the situation”.
Feeling among Nigerian is that the government of Muhammadu Buhari has failed in its promise to guarantee security of lives. What need to be done is for the president to rejig the security architecture, if possible, heads should roll in the country’s security agencies.
The police and other security apparatus are not working, and the president must wield the big sticks. The country must be secured from this menace now or never.
