FEATURE: Residents and traders complain of increased robberies and accidents on the Abeokuta-Sagamu road

Tope Olamilekan, a woman in her mid-thirties, left home one cold morning to open her shop as she had done for years, but was in for a nasty surprise. Her source of livelihood was gone. Overnight, her shop, located at the busy Abeokuta-Sagamu Interchange Road, had been burglarized. She blamed the lack of lighting in the area at night.

This incident, which occurred in late 2023, caused a significant setback for his business, forcing him to start over. In order not to face the same difficulties again, a few months later he moved across the street. Instead of setting up another shop, he simply displayed his merchandise on a table and packed it away in a safe place every night.

Mrs Olamilekan said the incident occurred months after the LED street lights at the Abeokuta-Sagamu Interchange Road stopped working due to missing cables, broken poles and locked generators.

“My belongings were stolen because the street lights were not on all night. In fact, the street light cables were broken because they were not on when they should have been,” he complained.

Robberies and accidents are now commonplace

Juliet Kekong, a street food vendor at the Abeokuta-Sagamu Interchange, has been selling there for more than two years. During her time selling, she has never seen the street lights functioning properly. On the contrary, she has experienced many robberies and accidents at night.

Talking to UDEME, he narrated one such incident. “One night, I was packing to go somewhere when a woman suddenly ran towards me. He looked scared, dirty, and depressed. He was screaming, ‘Help me, help me!’”

The young woman was on her way to deliver a food parcel to her partner when she was robbed while crossing the road. She initially fought back against the robbers but was eventually beaten to the ground and sustained minor injuries. For her safety, she handed over her mobile phone, bag and food parcel. After the robbers left, she ran to Nyonya Kekong’s shop.

“I had to give him water to restore his strength, help him clean the dirt off his feet, and let him use my phone to make a call. He called his girlfriend, who came and drove him home,” she recalled.

Accidents are also common on the highway. Mrs. Kekong recalls more than two accidents that occurred around her shop. Street lights, when functioning, provide much-needed visibility for vehicles at night. However, since the street lights stopped working, accidents have become commonplace.

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One of the accidents he mentioned involved a vehicle loaded with charcoal. Inside the vehicle were the driver, the owner of the charcoal, and a passenger named Toheeb, who was sitting on the charcoal load. Because the street lights were not working, Toheeb, who was already feeling dizzy, could not see the road clearly. When the driver suddenly braked, Toheeb fell and passed out.

“I ran out of the store when I heard, ‘Toheeb, wake up, Toheeb, wake up,’ but he couldn’t because he was already unconscious,” she said. Toheeb was then rushed to the hospital.

Ifaseun Fetemete, a roadside vulcanizer, has his own story. Unlike Ibu Kekong, who started her business after the lights were installed, Ifaseun has been a resident and vulcanizer in the area since 2014. He witnessed crime before the lights were installed, a brief period of peace after the lights were installed, and a return to criminal activity after the lights stopped working.

He recounted a recent incident involving a man in his late 40s, whose head was hit by a vehicle as he tried to cross the road at night. “I was in the shade when I saw a traffic jam (slow-moving traffic), which is not common here. I went out and saw a crowd of people surrounding a body. As I approached, I saw the body parts of a man whose skull had been hit by a moving vehicle,” he explained.

The man lost his footing because of a malfunctioning street light, which should have saved him from this cold death.

Failed lighting project

In 2021, Ogun State Government allocated N2.3 billion to install LED street lights along the Abeokuta-Sagamu Interchange Road and around the City Gate Monument in Abeokuta South/Obafemi Owode Local Government Area. The contract administered by the Ministry of Public Works was awarded to LEDCo LIMITED in the same year. The installation was completed and the lights started operating via generators in 2022.

However, in 2023, several problems arose. The streetlights worth billions of Naira stopped working because the cables were missing, broken, the poles were uprooted, and some of the generators that were supposed to power the lights were locked. This problem continued until 2024, with many vandals stealing the streetlight cables and other accessories.

Due to its dilapidated condition, the road has now become the site of numerous life-threatening incidents and crimes, prompting street vendors and homeowners to return to their homes as early as 8:00 p.m. for safety reasons.

Once the LED street lights were installed, a team of security personnel was assigned to power the generator every night and ensure the lights remained safe.

David Raphael, one of the streetlight security guards, said their duties were suddenly stopped when their boss left. Streetlight security guards are the ones who are tasked with guarding and ensuring that streetlights are on at the right time.

“I didn’t even last three months keeping the lights on after the boss left. Who’s going to pay us?” he asked.

Mr. Raphael said the lights did not stop working at the same time, but as long as one of the lights was off, it gave vandals the luxury of damaging the cables, resulting in mass power outages.

What is next?

A report published on the Ogun State portal on January 30, 2024, announced that the state government has embarked on a solar-powered streetlight project as a security measure. The initiative was introduced by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Energy, Oluwafemi Omisanjo, in response to the increasing arrests of vandals stealing streetlight cables and other accessories along the roads.

Mr. Omisanjo clearly stated, “The government will replace the street lights at the Sagamu Interchange-Abeokuta Expressway with solar-powered systems.”

This reporter contacted Mr. Omisanjo who said the implementation process started in May and they have been able to replace some of the lights.

To confirm, this reporter contacted one of the sources. He said that he had not seen any changes in his area, but he believed that the implementation may have started on other roads.

By Precious Akintulubo

This story was supported by funding from the Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)

FEATURE post: Residents, traders complain as robberies, accidents increase on Abeokuta-Sagamu road appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.