Road users lament extortion on Lagos-Ibadan expressway
The agony users of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway are subjected to continued unabated at the weekend. While increased influx of road users during the Easter holiday and activities of religious centres along the busy highway made passage an uneasy venture, the bedlam was further compounded by an illegal toll mounted at the Ogere-Remo axis of the expressway.
Security officials attached to the construction firm handling that section of the road, Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) were seen allegedly collecting N100 from both commercial and private vehicles that plied the newly constructed section of the road.
The newly constructed road was barricaded with a thick plank to prevent Ibadan-bound vehicles from using it while the other side of the road is rough and riddled with pot-holes though open to both commuters coming to and from Lagos. A commercial bus driver, simply identified as Mr. Seinde, said: “This is what we face here daily, most especially in the evening coming from Lagos to Ibadan. The security men open the plank on the road and collect N100 from both commercial and private vehicles. This illegal toll has been going unchecked for the past three weeks. By 5:00p.m. when most RCC officials must have gone home, the security men spring into operation.”
A commuter, Mr. Olusegun Ajayi, a painter, said it was wrong for security officials to open the road to road-users for a when the road has not been commissioned for use. “It would have made a lot of sense if it was to ease the congestion on this bad portions of the road rather than make it an avenue for a few people to line their pockets through illegal extortions.”Attempts to get the reaction of RCC at the weekend were futile, as a site manager declined making a comment on the development, saying he was not authorized to do so. He also added that officials in a position to comment would only be available after the Easter holiday.