Date Published: 10/27/09
IGP Onovo please save commuters along Lagos-Benin Expressway By Joe Igbokwe
Lagos-Ore Benin expressway (no former expressway) remains the undisputed
busiest road in Nigeria. Built almost 35 years ago, the road is now the
most dangerous road in the whole of Africa. Since the past 15 years, users
of that road have been losing more than 200million Naira every month, and
countless number of lives with no end in sight. Traveling on that road in
the past 15 years has become a nightmare, a shame that has refused to go
away, a shame that will continue to prick the conscience of Nigerian
leaders, the open sore of the Nigerian nation and a reminder that Nigeria
is a failed state.
A journey from Lagos to Onitsha that is supposed to take 5 hours now takes
almost a whole day and sometimes if something untoward happens you could
pass a night on that terrible road. To make matters worse, all kinds of
uniformed personnel ranging from the mobile police to ordinary police,
from customs to highway patrol police, and from soldiers to local
government criminals who take advantage of the bad road to extort money
from commuters in the name of revenue drive. On a certain day, I counted
over 100 police check-points from Shagamu to Benin-one kilometer to one
check-point. Their targets are private car owners-mainly Igbo traders
going home for one thing or the other. They line them up and pretend to be
checking the papers. A simple mistake of failing to write a number or a
letter properly on your vehicle particulars will cause you to lose an hour
or two or pay a stipulated amount ranging from N2,000 to N20,000. Some
desperate traders eager to get home as early as possible pay more. Those who come to Lagos to buy
Tokunbo vehicles are waylaid on Lagos Ore-Benin road and they pay through
their noses to take the vehicles to their destinations. The one that
annoy me most is the fierce looking men around Okitipupa and very close
to Benin claiming to be working for the local governments, who forcefully
stop vehicles with sharp objects, taking advantage of pot holes on the
highway to extort money from travelers.
I know some young men who have sold their cars and resorted to taking
public transport because they are tired of harassment and intimidation
from these uniformed personnel. Lagos-Ore-Benin expressway has become the
most policed road in the history of Nigeria. I agree that there is massive
movement of goods from Lagos to the South East, South West and South South
on a daily basis, more than any other road in Nigeria. I, acknowledge the
fact that the criminals have made that corridor their haven, I also
appreciate the fact that many smugglers use that route a lot. But we can
police the corridor without the big problem we create for commuters. The
security demand of the road has provided an avenue for corrupt officers to
rob the ordinary Nigerians of hard-earned money and other belongings and
time has come for us to address the problem. The extortion must stop, the
daylight robbery must stop, the harassment and intimidation must stop. If
the heavy police presence on that axis is to provide security, I support it whole
heartedly but if it is to be used as a cover up to rob the ordinary
Nigerians, IGP Onovo must look into this. This is time to clear the mess
on that road.
To make matters worse, these security personnel have devised another crude
method of blocking part of the road with all kinds of things ranging from
logs of wood, used tyres, sharp irons, to abandoned vehicles etc thereby
making the road more ugly and dangerous. IGP Onovo, please tell the police
to remove these obstacles so as not to add more troubles to the already
bad situation. This is the time to rescue the road from criminals and hand
it back to the real owners. The long sufferings they subject innocent
Nigerians everyday must stop.
Joe Igbokwe
Lagos
|
