Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
For travellers, the Ibadan-Ife-Ilesha-Akure road has become a road to hell. It is one road on which many people have either been gravely injured, dispossessed of their valuables or dispatched to the great beyond.
Investigations have revealed that three major factors are responsible for the tragedies. These include rampant armed robberies, incessant kidnappings and the deplorable state of the highway.
Many travellers on the Ibadan-Akure road have, in recent times, raised the alarm on the brazen manner in with which kidnappers and robbers operate on the highway, in spite of the heavy presence of security agencies on the road.
Abductions without end
An Ibadan-based lawyer, Mr. Musibau Adetunmbi, was recently released by kidnappers after some ransom was paid. He was abducted at Iwaraja in Osun State, along the Ilesha-Akure road, in April. Adeyinka Adegbehingbe, a professor of orthopaedic surgery and traumatology at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, was kidnapped between Ajesire and Ikire towns while travelling from Lagos to Ile-Ife in May.
Adetunmbi was travelling from Ibadan to Ondo State in the evening of the fateful day in order to appear in a matter he had in Akure, the following morning.
Adegbehingbe also narrated his bitter experience in the hands of his Fulani kidnappers, who collected over N5 million from him before his release.
His words: “The Federal Government needs to invest more in security; we need to know the identity of people coming in and going out of the town, state and the country at large.
“The people who abducted me were Fulani herdsmen and they had four guns and many rounds of ammunition as well as different dangerous weapons.”
Adetunmbi was in the car with his driver and other team members when his vehicle was ambushed by kidnappers. Other team members were asked to alight, and the gunmen took him and his driver to a strange place.
On Saturday, June 1, 2019, members of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Agbala Itura, Ile-Epo, Oke-Odo, Lagos, were returning to Lagos from a funeral outing in Ekiti. They were travelling in their church bus, a Toyota Hiace.
On reaching the Ife-Ijesha expressway in Osun State, they saw Fulani terrorists on the expressway, armed to the teeth. The driver of the bus made a desperate run right through the gunmen on the highway. The bandits were taken by surprise by the audacity of the driver. They opened fire but the bus escaped. It was riddled with bullets. No one died, it was gathered.
Horrific tales of kidnappers’ victims
The aggregate opinion of people in the South West is that Fulani bandits have been picking travellers up on Ibadan-Ilesha-Akure road, especially in Osun State. The victims are taken deep into the forest, where they are raped, maimed and dehumanised before the lucky ones are released after their relatives have paid hefty sums as ransom.
A woman who was a victim of kidnapping on the road shared her family’s bitter experiences in the hands of abductors on a social media platform, Forum of Nigerian Women in Diaspora. She said they were brutalised and raped, even as the bandits collected an N8 million before releasing them.
The family had left Auchi in Edo State for Lagos, and they had to pass through Akure to pick somebody.
Her words: “We were five in the car – the driver, myself, my husband, our daughter, a lady who is my husband’s niece, who had joined us in Akure. My daughter was next to me, just nine years. She was coming to Nigeria with me for the second time.
“Shortly after the Ijare junction, the driver felt the wagon’s tyres rupture and decided to change the tyre.
“It was like a film. In a jiffy, a crowd of armed men in military uniform came out of the bush. They fired at the boot of the car. Ahead of us, five of them came out of the bush, another two came from the rear. My daughter screamed: ‘Mummy, daddy, what’s going on?’
“There was no time to say a word. They marched us into the bush, firing into the sky. They hit me on my chest, hit my daughter on her head, blood oozed. At this time, it was better to kill me. I shouted at one of the armed men. His response was hell. He went straight for my private part, tore my dress with his gun. The others ripped my dress. I was left with my undies. My husband and my daughter started crying. Two of them dug their teeth into my breasts.
“While attending a secondary school in Adamawa, I had lived with some Fulani, so I understood a few Fulani words. I started pleading, at least for my daughter. To my shock, at gunpoint, they removed the dress of my little girl, one of them carried her on his head as my baby struggled, shouting, ‘Daddy, Mummy, what’s going on? Help me!’
“I could not help myself. We were marched for nine hours. I was half naked. My daughter was totally naked. I felt her tears like a stream of blood on her cheek. Our phones had been seized. We ended up in an ungoverned region in the thick of the forest. We met a well organised group.
“There were some kidnap victims. I saw two women, two ladies and three men. There were some people with their legs chained to trees. They were as if half dead. We were separated. I was separated from my husband. My daughter was taken away. I only heard her scream intermittently. I did not know what they were doing to her.
“These men, now about two dozen, had a full kitchen. They had a huge camp and a traditional medical team. But the camps appeared isolated from each other. We heard noises afar, indicating it might be nuclear settlements of camps. Right in my presence, I saw them pack the remains of a woman. They took her and buried her a few metres away from us. She had tribal marks.
“I cannot describe the agony of six days in captivity in this little piece. I cannot talk about how they asked my husband to choose between myself or his daughter being raped. My husband broke down in uncontrollable tears. One of them hit him, saying, ‘Yoruba bastard, you dey cry? Idiot!’
“They now gave him the option that he should be raped by one homosexual among them.
“My husband is a devout Muslim. He told them homosexuality and rape of any kind was against Islam. They hit him with the butt of AK-47, saying, ‘What do you know about Islam?’
“You can imagine, you are being asked to choose between being raped by a homosexual, your daughter, just nine years old, or your wife being raped? They gave the forth option, if you fail to choose, they would rape my daughter, rape my husband and rape me.
“I made myself the sacrificial lamb. My husband begged, saying they should name their price. One of them asked him to bend down. Three beastly criminals sat on his back, jumping until he was too weak to stand. I was not allowed to put on any additional cloth on my body for 24 hours. The rain fell once. I became the relic and a sexual museum for the armed men who in turn addressed me and asked questions about my financial standing.
“New Fulani men joined the camp. They organised military training for the new Fulani men that came, teaching them how to shoot and walk through circles of glowing fire. We were not released until after six days. We had to walk the same zigzag journey back to the main road, our eyes blindfolded.
“During the negotiation to pay, they said the money was not for them alone, that they had to settle ‘those who send us.’ For me, I see a thriving, organised crime supported by powerful political interests.”
Endless robberies
In spite of the heavy presence of security agents at some strategic points on the highway, several robberies have been reported on the road, especially between Ilesha and Owena.
Travellers on the highway who had been victims at one time or the other said the robbers used weapons such as cutlasses, knives, clubs and guns on their victims.
Some of the victims insisted that the robbers and kidnappers were members of the same evil group.
Deplorable state of highway
The state of the highway, from Iwo Road Roundabout in Ibadan, via Ikire, Gbongan, Ife Junction to Ilesha, is very appalling. The stretch of the road is dotted with countless potholes, ditches and craters that had on many occasions caused accidents, which resulted in deaths, and left many survivors with permanent disabilities.
The deplorable state of the road, as gathered, has for a long time been sending cold shivers down the spines of motorists and commuters on the Ibadan-Akure highway.
A tour of the stretch of the road from Ibadan to Akure revealed that the highway could be divided into three parts. The first part begins from Iwo Road Roundabout to Ife Junction. The second part starts from Ife Junction to Iwaraja, where the dual carriageway stops. The third part is the single lane from Iwaraja to Akure, via Owena.
The first two parts have become so dreadful that some private car owners would drive from Lagos to Ibadan and find a safe place to park their cars in Ibadan. They would board commercial buses or cars at Iwo Road beside Total filling station, opposite Wema Bank, on Ibadan-Ife Road, or at Gbagi to Akure in Ondo State.
Some of the car owners said the deplorable state of the road has compelled them to take such action, so that their cars would not develop mechanical faults in no man’s land in the middle of the highway.
The Ibadan-Ife Junction section, about 76 kilometres stretch, is the most deplorable part of the road. The lane from Ibadan to Ife Junction is very terrible, while the lane from Ife to Ibadan is a bit better. The old Ibadan-Ife road is manageable, while by far the most terrible lane is the new one constructed when the road was transformed to dual carriageway some years ago.
A commercial bus driver, Dada Ogundele-Adedeji, who plies the Ibadan-Ado-Ekiti route, analysed the highway from Iwo Road Roundabout to Iwaraja Junction, where the dual carriageway stopped.
“From Iwo Road Roundabout to Ibadan Toll Gate, the road is not too bad. But from Toll Gate to Gbongan and Ife, the road is in a terrible state. The potholes are too many and very deep.
“From Ife Junction to Ilesha at the junction of Iwaraja, the road is also bad. But the road is good from Iwaraja Junction to Akure and it is also not too bad from the Iwaraja Junction to Ado-Ekiti.
“Driving from Iwo Road Roundabout in Ibadan to Gbongan in Osun State, you have to maintain your lane. But from Gbongan to Ife, you have to take the lane that comes from Ife to Ibadan because of the terrible condition of the Ife-bound lane. You will get back to the right lane when you are about getting to Ife Junction.
“Then, from the Ife Toll Gate to Moro, the state of the road is also very bad. This has forced many motorists, including truck drivers, to take to driving against traffic by taking the other lane.
“It is the same thing when you are coming to Ibadan. The lane to Ibadan is fairly okay, from Obadare’s church to Osu. But from Osu to Ife Junction, the road is in a bad state. So, drivers usually use the lane that goes to Akure and drive against traffic to Ife Junction. This has caused a lot of road accidents.
“If your bus or car runs into the potholes, the vehicle may develop immediate mechanical faults. Or you may lose your tyre. And by the time you stop to attend to the vehicle, some Bororo (Fulani) people will emerge from the bush and they will be saying, ‘Bringing money’ repeatedly. If you don’t have money to give them, they usually use cutlasses to either kill or terribly injure their victims. They would also ask: ‘Hello, hello e da,’ meaning, where is your phone?
“We are very sad that the Federal Government has neglected the South West in terms of fixing the inter-state roads. Now, tell me, which of the inter-state roads in the South West is in a good state? None!”
It was gathered that the worst places for armed robbery and kidnapping are the Wasimi-Asejire, Akoda junction, near Ife, Osu, near Obadare, Iwaraja Junction, and Erin Ijesha.
Many survivors have said the robbers and kidnappers usually wear military camouflage during operations, which has deceived many travellers. The criminals, survivors said, can shoot their guns at any vehicle, no matter the speed.
If the bandits kidnap anyone or a group of people, they would collect their victims’ shoes and compel them to walk barefooted in the thorn-filled bush for hours. They usually maintained circular movement to weaken their victims as they move into the thick forest.
It is said, at any of the flashpoints, if a vehicle develops a mechanical fault and cannot move, one must leave the place immediately, otherwise, the criminals would attack. It was gathered that they also cut off some body parts, ears, tongues, breasts, sexual organs and so on, for ritual purposes.
“If your vehicle develops any fault in any of those areas, just remove the battery and flee.
“I have been driving on the road in the last 15 years. I was a victim of the Bororo robbers too. I have scars on my head. Many commercial drivers also have bitter experiences to share.
“A busload of fish was hijacked recently by the Bororo and the driver of the bus was mercilessly dealt with with cutlasses. He was rushed to one hospital in Ikire after the incident. The bus was found in the bush three days later. The owner of the fish could have pressed charges against the driver, but for the way he was hacked by the Fulani guys,” a driver, Ogundele-Adedeji, said.
Abdul-Rasaka Salarin, a driver plying the Ibadan-Abuja route, shared a similar experience: “The most deplorable part of the road is between Ibadan and Ife Junction. From Gbongan to Ife, drivers usually take the lane going to Ibadan. We would drive against traffic. This has caused many accidents on the road.
“Ife Junction to Ilesha is substantially fair up till the junction of the first Ilesha Expressway. But from there till Iwaraja Junction, it is terrible. But the lane from Ilesha to Ife Junction is in a very bad state.
“While driving, during the day or in the night, whenever you notice that vehicles are not coming from the other side, it is better you park safely and when you notice that vehicles are coming from the other side, you too can then move,” he counselled.
Some travellers, who preferred anonymity, said they were worried about the terrible state of the road from Iwo Road Roundabout to Ibadan Toll Gate in Egbeda. They also mentioned the worrisome state of the road from Asejire to Osengere, adding that the road was okay a few metres to Osengere up till the Christ Apostolic Church, Alasepe, in Ikire. From there, the road terrible up till Wasimi and Gbongan.
After the flyover at Gbongan, drivers, according to them, would cross to the other side of the road and drive against traffic to Ife. The lane towards Ife is terrible from Gbongon to Akinlalu and Ife Roundabout.
From Iwaraja Junction to Akure, the road is okay. But the road from Iwaraja Junction to Ado-Ekiti is in a bad state.
The highway in question falls within the jurisdiction of the Zone 11 Command of Nigeria Police Force. The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of the zone, comprising Oyo, Osun and Ondo States, is Mr. Adeleye Oyebade. He said the police have identified some flashpoints notorious for criminal activities.
He said, “We have got more technical support and we have got more technical platforms to be able to apprehend these criminals.
“We want the cooperation of members of the public. This is what we are soliciting, and that is what we are getting. In all areas, we know that we’ll deal with heinous crimes to be able to achieve the desired result of getting minimum problems or challenges in terms of our ability to curtail crimes in this zone.
“We have crime-mapped the zone to indicate which crime is prevalent and where, to enable us develop the appropriate strategies to nip such in the bud.”
The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Major General Okwudili Azinta, when he hosted Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Shina Olukolu, at the headquarters of the division in Ibadan, said that all the security agencies have been working together to ensure that the situation is dealt with professionally.
His words: “We are very much aware of what is going on, especially that of Ondo State. I have given the instructions and the brigade commander is working on it, alongside other security agencies, and they are exploiting the gap between Ondo and Edo states. There is a large forest in that axis, which has more or less becoming an avenue for criminals, which they are exploiting.
“I have given the instruction on the discovery and my men, in collaboration with other sister security agencies, are working seriously on it in order to curtail the activities of criminals in the axis.
“The brigade commander has notified me about the activities of criminals in the axis and we are interested in making sure that something drastic is done in that regard.
“We are also aware that some miners from Zamfara are migrating down to Osun State to operate in some mining sites that are springing up there. We are working seriously on this in order to curtail the influx of criminals.
“By and large, I want to assure you and the people that there is no cause for alarm. There will always be isolated cases, but such is being adequately taken care of.”
Meanwhile, notable Yoruba leaders, including the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, have condemned the criminal activities on the Ibadan-Ilesha-Akure Road.
They have called on the South West governors, irrespective of political party affiliations, to jointly fight insecurity. They have also called on the Federal Government to arrest the situation.
It was gathered that people across the South West might soon resort to self-help to overcome the challenges. Already, hunters in Yorubaland have indicated their readiness to fight the menace, since it appears the Federal Government is powerless to do anything about the situation.