For several months now, residents and motorists, among others, plying Ota-Idiroko Road in Ogun State have been having it rough as smugglers bringing in rice, turkey and groundnut oil from Republic of Benin have been blocking the highway at will, thereby disrupting vehicular traffic.
Some residents in the area said this was the height of the illicit trade that causes government to lose revenue and discourages local production of rice.
The disruption got to a head on Friday when the smugglers blocked Goro section of Atan-Ota on the highway for about six hours.
While the disruption lasted, children heading to school, workers going to work and others going for their various businesses were held up in the traffic.
And it was lamentation galore.
A parent who was taking his child from Agbara axis of the area to school in Canaanland, Ota but had been locked down in the Goro Section for about two hours was seen lamenting that the child was late for examination in school.
“Now I have to beg the school authorities to arrange a separate examination for my son when we get to school because, as you can see, we are still here locked down in the traffic at 9 am and we don’t know whether we can get to the school before 11 am”, he said.
Modus operandi
The smugglers usually don’t transit with their contraband during the day to reduce their chances of being caught by the Customs and other law enforcement agencies.
They move in a convoy of about 50 to 100 cars, buses and trucks, stretching about five kilometers, from the Idiroko border in the night, especially between 11 pm and 5 am.
But if there was any delay that is likely to keep them on the road before daybreak, they start speeding recklessly and overtaking at will on the Ota-Idiroko Road.
The consequence of not exiting the axis before daybreak can be grave, given that they have to hide in the side streets until nightfall before continuing their journey to their destinations, including Lagos Island markets, where they discharge their cargo.
In the process, they face oncoming traffic and many times when that happens, there is traffic lockdown.
That is what happened on Friday when the smugglers, in an attempt to beat daybreak, faced oncoming traffic and everyone came to a standstill.
A man who claimed to be resident in the area told Sunday Vanguard that traffic snarl as a result of smugglers reckless driving was not new on the Ota-Idiroko Road.
He narrated a traffic disruption in the area caused by smugglers that lasted all night.
“What you saw on Friday morning in the Goro Section of the road was a child’s play compared to what was witnessed in a particular night when the lockdown starting around 11 pm and the road was not free until about 10 am the following day”, he said.
“That was about 12 hours’ traffic lockdown.
“What that means is that those returning from work were kept in the lockdown and probably had to return to work from there the following day while those who were in one form of emergency or the other could not help themselves.
“Imagine what would have been lost in terms of man-hours in that kind of situation? And the saddest part of it is that the authorities who must be aware of what is happening appear not to be bothered, otherwise they should have done something about it”.
Asked whether there had been instances where the reckless smugglers had been involved in serious accidents or recorded fatalities in the axis, the resident explained that he was not aware of fatalities but said that there had been many serious accidents involving the smugglers.
Checkpoints
Strangely, security agencies, including Customs, the Immigration and the police, maintain at least three checkpoints between Agbara junction and Canaanland on the Ota-Idiroko road axis where these smugglers pass through on daily basis.
One checkpoint, according to Sunday Vanguard findings, is at Goro area, another at Onibuku Bus Stop and the third at Canaanland.
There are at least two others inward Sango Under Bridge. Reacting to the development, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Jado Zakari, told our correspondent that he was unaware of any road blockade, insisting that no such incident had been reported to the Command.
