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Banditry: Motorists Shun Ife-Ibadan Highway

Going from Osogbo to Ikire on Friday, our correspondent observed fewer vehicles on the ever-busy road which connects the South-West region to other parts of the country.

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Vehicular movement on the Ife-Ibadan Expressway was noticeably light on Friday and Saturday, a development attributed to the incessant attacks by armed bandits on commuters and motorists on the highway.

Going from Osogbo to Ikire on Friday, our correspondent observed fewer vehicles on the ever-busy road which connects the South-West region to other parts of the country.

From Gbongan Junction to the boundary of Osun and Oyo states, there were four police checkpoints manned by heavily armed riot police.

Before Wednesday’s attack, which claimed the life of an employee of the Atakumosa West Local Government Area, Adenipekun Samson, who was shot in the neck by some gunmen suspected to be Fulani bandits, there had been an increase in the cases of kidnapping and armed robbery on the road.

The deceased, who was confirmed dead in a hospital as a result of the gunshot, was said to be travelling in an unregistered Toyota Corolla car driven by one Ismaila Olayiwola, going towards Ibadan, Oyo State, when the incident happened.

Two commercial drivers, who spoke with PUNCH on the issue at Naira and Kobo Junction, Ikire, attributed the light vehicular movement on the road to the frequent robbery attacks.

One of the drivers, identified simply as Adenekan, said the reduction in the volume of traffic was as a result of the increase in the attack on travellers by bandits.

He said, “The number of vehicles coming from Osogbo and Ife towards Ibadan has reduced. The attacks by bandits cause this. We can only hope that the perpetrators will be arrested to restore people’s confidence. Despite today being a weekend, people are not travelling through this route. People are afraid to use this road.”

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