From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Inspector- General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, on Friday sent a special delegation to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, following an upsurge of security breaches on the highway, especially kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery and other forms of crimes and criminalities.
The delegation, headed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of South West, Johnson Kokumo, carried out security surveillance on highway and revealed plans to position patrol vans at flashpoints, that will be complemented with more deployment of police personnel to the expressway.
Giving reasons for the inspection, Kokumo stated that the security surveillance was carried out with a view to assessing the security situation on the road and at the same time proffer lasting solutions to them. He added that the IGP has mandated him and the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Adebowale Williams, to review the security on the highway and make recommendations that would put an end to kidnapping and other forms of crimes on the road.
The IGP, he said, is seriously concerned about the spate of kidnapping and other crimes along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
“We have seen what and what have been responsible for what could be aptly described as cause for action and we are going to address them. We have made our observations. Where we do not have enough security personnel will be corrected. Also, the areas where we have to deplore more patrol vans for effective monitoring and quick answering to distress calls will be looked into.
“We are going to draw the attention of the affected local government authorities and agencies of government to the grown up bushes and shrubs at the verge of the expressway. We want to have an express road where reasonable metres of the roads are visible.
“Also, we are calling on the inhabitants of the communities along the expressway to cooperate with the police authority in its effort to fish out the criminals. The perpetrators are not foreigners. They live among the people.”