Revamp Highway Patrol Team

The hands of Nigeria’s  Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and those of his men may be full because of the huge security challenges confronting the nation, especially the Boko Haram insurgency in the north.  And this may be taking a huge toll on his men and the lean resources at their disposal.

But this should not be an excuse for not effectively providing security for motorists and travellers on the nation’s highways. Although we applauded the dismantling of police roadblocks on the highways early last year, the alternative, which is regular patrol of the highways which Abubakar promised Nigerians, has been non-existent or largely ineffective.

This has created an ample opportunity for armed robbers and kidnapers to rob road users at will, not only at night but in broad day light. This was the situation on Friday 30 December, 2012 on the Benin-Sagamu Expressway near Ore. On that day, armed robbers were so audacious that they took over the lonely stretch of the road and robbed travellers. They even shot some of their victims. For about two hours, no one challenged them and there was no police patrol team on sight.

Sadly, it has been observed that since the police roadblocks were dismantled, there seems to be a passive approach on the part of the police to maintaining security on the highways. The road blocks were goldmines where the police milked motorists and travellers dry. And now that they have been deprived of this nest egg, most of the policemen are not keen on doing the job anymore. Abubakar and his men should prove us wrong by showing greater commitment to performing their job.

The police boss should re organise the Highway Patrol team for effective patrol of the highways. No matter the constraints or challenges the police are facing, there is no justification for leaving travellers at the mercy of armed robbers and kidnappers. The security summit the police force is organising this week must also address this issue.

The 24-hour patrol he promised early last year must be implemented. Travellers who are grappling with the nation’s death traps called roads cannot afford to add armed robbery attacks and kidnappings to an already deplorable situation on the nation’s roads.

The police should shake off their lethargy and make the nation’s roads safe from armed robbery attacks.  It is good that the roadblocks are gone for good as Abubakar has persistently assured Nigerians. But the police should devise a proactive approach to curbing violent crimes on the highways.