Motorists on the Abeokuta-Sagamu Expressway have lamented over non-functional streetlights on the 42km road, which they say pose a security risk.
As gathered by Quest Times, it was observed that only the streetlights closer to the Governor’s office were functional, while others were either without cables, damaged, or had been removed.
Also, some of the generators used to power the streetlights were under lock.
Speaking with newsmen, one motorist, Taiwo Lasisi, said the vandalisation of the streetlights was mainly carried out overnight, when the road might have become less busy, and appealed to the Ogun State Government to repair the damaged streetlights so as to forestall security breaches along the road.
“I am a commercial driver on this road and I ply the road every day. What I observed was that the poles were first pushed down, after a few days, they were removed. Some of the poles were also damaged by vehicles colliding with them during accidents.”
“I want to appeal to the Ogun State Government to fix the damaged streetlights so that we don’t begin to experience security breaches on this road,” Lasisi disclosed.
Another motorist, Hammed Lanre, said he was always gripped with fear of being attacked when driving on the expressway at night, due to the rising insecurity on major highways across the country, as opposed to when the road was newly constructed with street lights everywhere.
“When this road was reconstructed with the streetlight facilities functional, it was a sweet experience driving on it because there was nothing to worry about and there was no hiding place for evildoers. The road was always well-illuminated.
“But since the streetlights have become non-functional, I am always scared of driving on this road especially at night because of the level of insecurity on our highways these days. You don’t know where these evil guys could hide to launch an attack.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a resident in one of the communities along the road, blamed negligence and lack of maintenance on the part of the state government for the situation of the streetlights, saying it would be difficult to maintain the streetlights with generators.
“How can a government adopt the use of a generator to power streetlights? I think that’s where the problem started from. Before the increase in fuel price, the streetlights were functional and now that the price of fuel has skyrocketed, it has since become non-functional.
“It is just lack of maintenance culture by our government that has led to the damage of the streetlights,” he said.
The Ogun State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya, is yet to react to the situation at hand.