ALL the roads leading to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital are in bad state and they are causing security challenges as accidents and armed robberies are common on the roads. It is the bad portions of the roads that the men of the underworld are now using as safe havens to attack motorists.

For example, the Ibadan-Ogbomoso axis of Ilorin highway is in a poor shape. Ditto the Ilorin-Jebba-Lokoja-Osogbo roads.

Minister of Works Arc. Mike Onolememen had to travel from Lagos to Ilorin by road to see the situation of the parlous Federal Road leading to the state during the yearly conference of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) penultimate Tuesday. After the conference, he also traveled by road back to Abuja via Jebba.

Motorists and commuters are fed up with the terrible state of the roads. The spate of armed robberies on the bad spots on Ilorin-Jebba road is worrisome.

A case in point was the one that happened after Oke-Oyi, the headquarters of Ilorin East Local Government penultimate Thursday, during which a Mitsubishi Lancer car was snatched at gun point by armed robbers at one of the sharp bends of the road.

The footprints of the armed robbers and deadly heavy stones they used to block the road to perform their nefarious act were visible by the roadside this reporter visited the place.

Alhaji Toye Alao, Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Maraba Motor Park, Ilorin recalled the ordeal of motorists and commuters on Jebba road since 2008.

"Armed robbers used to rob both day and night. The bad road makes it easy for them to attack passengers and motorists," he said.

Alao recalled that during the recent Sallah festival, many people perished in an accident that happened on the road at Osingada. "The bad road has led to loss of lives and properties worth millions of naira. The effects of the bad road include loss of man hours and additional expenses to put our vehicles in order.

"Many people have been maimed by armed robbers on the road. The situation has affected businesses because people are now afraid of traveling in and out of Ilorin to transact businesses," he added

He regretted that although the government is aware of the situation, it is yet to fix the road.

"We used to go to Abuja through Lokoja, but that road now is also bad. We spend up to 10 hours instead of the usual six hours to get to Abuja. Ilorin is now surrounded by bad roads and robbers," he bemoaned.

He pointed out that when the government discovered that the old single carriageway to Jebba was winding, it constructed a new road which is now bad.

"The road was constructed during the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd). But since the new road has gone bad, we had to go back to the old road which was last repaired in 1979. There are a lot of sharp bends and narrow bridges on the old road. Ilorin to Jebba which should not take more than one hour's drive, now takes more than three hours. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in the state is trying. That is why accidents have reduced on the road," Alao added.

He revealed that members of patrol team of the union are also helping to provide security on the road.

Alhaji Yinusa Onilari, Treasurer, Road Transport Employees Association, Maraba Garage, said that to remedy the situation, they do put laterite on the road to cover the potholes. "We don't have the resources to tar the road by ourselves. Trailers are too many on the road. The fumes from the trailers always cover the road, further making driving difficult for us," he said.

He disclosed that the road they are now plying to Jebba also leads to Share, hometown of Governor Ahmed. "The wife of the governor even met the accident that happened in Osingada during the Sallah Festival on her way to Share. Everybody in the vehicle was burnt to ashes. We are calling on the government to help us to fix the road to save us from further loss of lives and property," he said.

Abdul Ganiyu, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Ilorin East Council Vigilante Group, said cases of armed robberies are no longer news on the road.

"We started the vigilante group in 2003 after armed robbers inflicted injuries on the former Chairman of Moro Local Government, Alhaji Jimoh Adebayo. It was during a daylight robbery. Alhaji Tunde Saidu, former Chairman of Ilorin East Local Government launched the vigilante group to provide security," he said.

Ganiyu added that they want the local government to buy patrol vehicles for them to check the menace of armed robbers on the road.

"The bus we are using for patrol is very bad. The Chairman of Ifelodun Local Government, Mohammed Baba bought two Toyota Hilux vans for the vigilante group in his council to do patrol. The Chairman of Ilorin East Local Government, Alhaja Aminatu Ishola gave us a Toyota bus for patrol. It is very difficult to do effective patrol with the bus," he noted.

He said members of the vigilante group are doing their best to provide security for motorists and commuters passing through the road.

"When we made it difficult for the robbers to rob in the afternoon, they switched to night robberies," he said.

He said that it is difficult to arrest the robbers who usually attack motorists and run into the bush.

"We may be doing patrol in Share they may be robbing in Oke-Oyi. The robbers even collected a Mitsubishi Lancer coming from Mokwa to Ilorin during the robbery incident penultimate Thursday.

"They also collected money from the passengers in a commercial vehicle going to Kano. We called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Oke-Oyi, Mukaila Yusuf and he responded to the distress call. Unfortunately, we could not arrest any of the robbers. The robbers have superior weapons. We are using dane guns to fight them," he said.

Alhaji Yusuf Amudu, the Mongaji, the traditional ruler of Panada Oja, said that the situation is dicey.

"We have not slept peacefully since 3.am penultimate Thursday. There was another attack a day before the incident. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Nigeria Police in Oke-Oyi is aware of the two incidences. The bad road has made it easy for highway robbers to operate," he said.

At the vigilante office in Iponrin, the 20- member vigilante group were sighted strategizing on how to combat the highway robbery.

Wasiu Omomose, one of the members of the vigilante group disclosed that they were keeping watch all night around the black spot where the robbery took place.

"Immediately we left to go and eat, the robbers struck that fateful Thursday.

Finance is a major problem we are facing here. We don't have money to fuel our patrol vehicle and to buy cartridges for our guns," he said.

He complained that the local government pays them N5,000 monthly.

Omomose added that the police don't have enough personnel to man the dangerous road. He regretted that the activities of the highway robbers increase after the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar instructed the police to dismantle their checkpoints.

Meanwhile, rehabilitation of the old road from Jebba to Ilorin has commenced. Musbau Adeyemo, a supervisor of Roads Construction Nigeria Plc, Sokoto, one of the construction companies handling the rehabilitation of the road, said that what they are doing is a palliative measures, pending the time the contract will be awarded for full rehabilitation.

"If you have gone through this road before now, you will know that the road is getting better," he said.

Mrs. Kolawole Bunmi, Secret Officer, Moro Local Government, Bode Saadu regretted the pitiable condition of the road.

"The local government complained to the state, the state also complained to the Federal Government," he said.

Bunmi urged the government to make the road a dual carriageway. "The ongoing rehabilitation did not include the shoulder of the road. Apart from putting laterite on the road, we have not done any major road project in the local government, she said. She said that the local government Chairman, Alhaji Shuaib Jimoh who shuttles between Ilorin and Bode Saadu had gone to Ilorin for a meeting when The Guardian called.

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Oke-Oyi, Yusuf Mukaila who was recently shot and wounded at Share during a bank robbery operation, said the police are doing their best to reduce the spate of robberies in the area.

Christopher Ademoluti, Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Kwara State Command disclosed that the situation of Nigerian roads is abnormal.

"When I was posted to Cross River State, it will take you five to six hours on the road between Calabar and Ogoja because of the bad road. When I was in Osun State, the road between Osogbo and Ife was terrible. When I was in Sokoto, the road between Sokoto and Funtua was so bad. No proper maintenance of the roads," he lamented.

He added that Ilorin -Jebba road is now a deathtrap. "That was why we recorded a fatal accident during the Sallah period. The 18-passengers bus was trying to maneuver the bad spot on the road when a trailer ran into it, killing everybody in the vehicle.

"Between Ilorin and Kabba, Kogi State, is a deadly road, you have to divert to Omu Ekiti in order to get to Kogi," he said

Ademoluti suggested that the Federal Government alone cannot shoulder the cost of maintaining the roads.

"There should be a road tax that will complement the effort of the Federal Government in maintaining our roads," he said.

The sector commander added that the government could also impose an additional road tax on those with more than two or more vehicles. "Then, overloading of vehicles with goods is another problem. Both the drivers and the owners of the goods needs to be educated about the effect of their action," he said.

Ademoluti suggested that both the state and the Federal Government should collaborate to ensure that the road is in good shape. The frequent robberies on the road, he said, is beyond the control of the police.

"The road is bad and when you try to slow down, the robbers appear from the bush and the police cannot be present at every bad spot.

"The solution is for the road to always be in good condition. We don't have a towing vehicle to evacuate broken-down vehicles on the roads, but we collaborate through Private Public Partnership (PPP). The owners of the broken-down vehicles have to pay the owners of the towing vehicles. The government cannot provide for everything," he said.

He said safety on the roads should be a joint responsibility between the government and the road users. "It is beyond my capacity to say anything about why FRSC is not having towing vehicles. All I know is that the PPP system is working," he added.

Dr. Amuda Abubakar, the Kwara State Commissioner for Works and Transport, said that he is concerned about the bad roads to the extent that earlier in the year, he went to Abuja with the state governor to pay a visit to the Minister of Works.

"We lamented the state of federal roads that are within and adjoining Kwara State. We pleaded with Mr. President for quick intervention. During the NSE Conference, I seized the opportunity to remind the minister on the state of the roads from Ilorin to Erin-Ile and from Ilorin to Lokoja.

"The honourable Minister of Works has given us his commitment to ensure that the bad roads are put in order," he said.

He said that the Federal Government is currently rehabilitating the road for safe passage during the Christmas period.

To prevent accidents and fatalities on the federal roads, he said the state government makes some repairs and in some cases, process repayment or refund for some of their interventions.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Ilorin, Bode Olufemi disclosed that everybody knows that the road is bad. "Because the road is bad that is why we have five patrol team there now. We have deployed more patrol vehicle to that area. Whatever the police is telling you is more authentic," he said.

He said that the last robbery incident on the road is yet to be reported to the police.

However, the Minister of works, Mike Onolememen in an interview with The Guardian on the state of federal roads disclosed that with the ongoing reforms in the road sector, the bad roads currently bedeviling the country would soon be a thing of the past.

"As far as road infrastructure is concerned, Nigerians should expect very positive results by the middle of next year because we are working almost in virtually all the six geo-political zones of the country, focusing more on the major Nigerian roads," he said.

"There is no doubt that finance is a major constraint in the road sector. But the Executive is interfacing with the Legislature and we want a common solution to the problem of finance. I can assure you that after the stakeholders' engagement, we will be able to come out with a lasting solution," he said.

He added that the Federal Ministry of Works has proposed the establishment of a road infrastructure fund to argument whatever yearly budgetary provision government is making for roads.

He pointed out that the FRSC has no reason for not having towing vehicles to do their work.

"They have their yearly budget, so they should reprioritize and focus on those things that are needed to promote safety on our roads. It is a question of prioritization. Also, under the road sector development programme of the Federal Ministry of Works, we have already given the FRSC patrol vehicles and gadgets for them to enforce appropriate behavious on our roads," he said.

The minister explained that under the World Bank collaboration programme with the Federal Government, about $10 million budget is meant to assist FRSC.

"But on their own, they should also be able to procure some of the equipment they need to carry out their responsibility," he opined.