Mrs. Ibifuro-Harrison said the police in the state have already deployed enough resources to the notorious express road in order to guarantee the safety of life and properties of travelers who had been complaining and agitating for constant security patrol of the dangerous route.
The Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has promised to provide maximum security for the life of commuters traveling on the busy Ilesa-Akure expressway, which has become a den for armed robbery and kidnapping.
Ondo State Police Commissioner Hilda Ibifuro-Harrison announced this on Thursday while leading some curious journalists on a tour of the express road, which also links Osun and Ondo States with Abuja road.
SaharaReporters gathered that the express road has become a notorious route for armed hoodlums who operate freely without being challenged by the police, making it a nightmare for commuters.
Our correspondent reported that several victims have fallen prey to robbery incidents and attacks on the road while others have been sent to early graves due to the nefarious activities of these notorious armed men who operate both in broad daylight and evening.
Among the victims of the notorious highway were the erstwhile Managing Director of Daily Times, Adunuoyi-Ojo Onukaba, who was attacked and killed on the route by armed robbers while returning from the 80th birthday celebration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo in Ogun State, and Sola Abe, a manager in the Wema Bank Akure branch who was robbed and killed by armed men while on his way to Lagos for an official assignment.
Mrs. Ibifuro-Harrison said the police in the state have already deployed enough resources to the notorious express road in order to guarantee the safety of life and properties of travelers who had been complaining and agitating for constant security patrol of the dangerous route.
She explained that the police would begin conducting a regular and well fortified security patrol of the highway using the assistance of the Special Joint Task Force and other intelligence agencies in the state to monitor the activities of hoodlums on the highway.
The police boss, who cautioned travelers to stop using alternative routes at odd hours on the express-road, declared that all forms of criminal activities on the highway would soon be over with the move taken by the joint security forces in the state to patrol the road.
According to Mrs. Ibifuro-Harrison, the highway that was once taken over by some criminal elements has already become safer for commuters.
“Our commuters can now ply this express road without any fear,” the Police Commissioner declared.
Mrs. Ibifuro-Harrison encouraged travelers and members of the local villages surrounding the express road to support and cooperate with the police command in its intelligence-driven policing for the purpose of adequate security.
The police boss further expressed the police command’s commitment to tackling all forms of criminality in the state through intelligence-led policing.
