On Tuesday, 29th November, during a visit by the management of the Leadership Newspapers to the governor’s office, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun vowed that his administration together with the Oyo State government, will stop kidnappers from abducting victims on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, particularly on the Ogun sector of the busiest road in the nation.
Gov. Abiodun equally revealed that the state in conjunction with its Oyo State counterpart has set up a joint security team to beef up the security along the expressway.
He further informed the management of the Abuja-based newspaper who visited to inform him of his nomination as the newspaper’s Governor of the Year, that the synergy with Oyo was meant to ensure that the flash points between Lagos and Oyo States are well covered by security teams.
He said that over thirty patrol teams have been formed between Oyo and Ogun to tackle issues of kidnapping along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, adding that the two state governments have gone ahead and cleared both sides of the road.
“We set up a joint security team with the Oyo State government because we found out that the majority of these incidences are right at the border between us and Oyo State, they take advantage of that area as a blind spot.
“As we speak today, I think, there are not less than thirty patrol teams on that corridor of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. These teams comprise soldiers, policemen, operatives from the DSS, men of the Civil Defence, and vigilantes.
“The last thing we want is for people to travel with the fear of being kidnapped and nothing can be more terrible as we approach the Yuletide season.
“We’ve also gone ahead and cleared both sides of the road, because of that element of surprise that they introduce when they just jump out of the bushes and then kidnap and run away, so, we have approached our contractors to clear 50 meters on each side so it makes it difficult for them to use the bushes to hide,” Abiodun stated.
The state helmsman, who disclosed that drones would be deployed to cover the road, explained that the drones would aid security agents to monitor and see the activities in the area.
“We are going beyond deployment of security teams, we are deploying drones to cover that road. These are drones that will allow us to see exactly what is happening there even before any occurrence,” he stated.
Abiodun, while noting that his administration currently has the biggest footprint of any TechHub in the country with partnerships from different multinational companies, disclosed that his administration is laying an ambitious digital infrastructure project of about 5,000 kilometers across the state.
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