Lanre Bankole, Commissioner of Police, Ogun State, addressed the constant report of insecurity along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
As hoodlums attacked drivers once more on Wednesday, there was a terror on the Long bridge and Kara ends of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State.
After the state police command labelled prior allegations of an attack on the bridge as fake news, this is the second instance in the last twenty-four hours.
Around 6 a.m. on Tuesday, thieves stole from drivers laptops, phones, and other devices as many of them from their cars in search of safety.
According to the state police spokeswoman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state commissioner of police, Lanre Bankole, had police officers stationed nearby to make sure local criminals wouldn’t take advantage of the traffic congestion caused by the road’s ongoing restoration.
Ibrahim Odebunmi, a driver, claimed that individuals had begun escaping from their cars. Odebunmi, who was present during the attack on Tuesday.
He said, “I had to abandon my vehicle and take my keys and phone. At the Warewa Junction, we heard gunshots but some people were saying they were the police. The robbers were at the front of the Mikano company.”
Another eyewitness, Adeoye Makinde, lamented the absence of policemen at the scene.
He said, “I was on the Longbridge going inside Lagos when I met the traffic. It wasn’t long before I started seeing people running from the back as if they were going to Lagos. Everyone in my car panicked. Over 40 people ran past us and we didn’t see any policemen.
“I expect that when I get here today (Wednesday), I should see policemen since it was reported that an attack happened here yesterday (Tuesday)”
Also, a government worker, Emmanuel Ottun, said some people got hurt during the incident.
He said, “We were already approaching the Kara Cattle Market when we discovered that people were alighting from their vehicles.
“Some of them got hurt in the process as they jumped out through the windows of their vehicles. The vehicle conveying me had to make a U-turn and proceeded on one way back to Ogun State.
“When we got to Warewa, we learnt that people had already got information about the robbery as we saw them at a standstill. After about 20 minutes, we learnt that the armed robbers were done with their operation, and that was when we continued on our journey to Lagos.
“When we got to the point where the robbery took place, I discovered that there were already two police vans on the other side of the bridge, outward Lagos. I don’t know if it was the arrival of the police that stopped the robbery operation.”
A commercial driver, who identified himself simply as Joseph for security reasons, said he initially left his bus to run for his life but returned 25 minutes later.
He said, “By the time I returned to where I parked my bus, my passengers refused to return to the bus; they all chose to trek despite my appeal. They didn’t enter the bus nor did they pay me for the distance I already covered.”
“Some of the victims of the attack claimed to have heard repeated gunshots, but I heard a gunshot just once; it sounded like a bomb,” he added.
The President of the Arepo Central Community Development Association, a community close to Longbridge, Bode Adefolu, lamented the situation.
He blamed the attacks on the traffic, which he said was caused by the slowness of the construction work on the expressway.
He said, “We have had situations like this in the past and we put in interventions. For instance, we’ve had extra hands in terms of security personnel to support the policemen patrolling the expressway and that had been laid to rest.
“But what has brought about this is the construction work that is coming to our axis which has created a bottleneck on that expressway.
“The construction is causing traffic on the expressway. So, we are looking for people that can mediate between the Federal Ministry of Works and Julius Berger to speed up the job they are doing. Their work is taking too long.”
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