By Daniel Tyokua
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Olatunji Disu, has demanded for patrol and armoured vehicles to secure Nigeria’s highways, warning that roads without security invite crime.
He made the appeal during a visit to the minister of works, senator David Umahi in Abuja, Monday, where he praised Umahi for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project and linked road development directly to crime reduction.
“Roads do not just carry daily bread. They carry the future of a nation. And posterity never follows anywhere that there is no road.
“When people are employed, when people have things to do, work to do, when people wake up in the morning and go to work and come back home daily and happy, you are doing police work. You are removing a lot of pressure from us, security operatives. Because people who are fed, people who have work to do, rarely go into crimes.”
Disu said the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway would pass through untrodden areas, bring “light and civilization,” and create new economic corridors. But he stressed that police presence must be built into the plan from the start.
“We need police presence kilometers upon kilometers along the highway. By the time you are done, we should have special checking points on the road,” he said.
He described the checkpoints as designated areas “for proper checking of vehicles and of people plying the road, as it is done everywhere in the world,” citing models already in Port Harcourt.
The IGP requested “a lot of patrol vehicles, even armored vehicles,” plus mini control rooms where officers can deploy drones to monitor long stretches.
He assured Umahi that any vehicles provided would be dedicated solely to patrols and operations on the new road.
“This road has attracted attention everywhere in the world. Tourists are waiting for you to finish, for them to ply, have a taste of that road,” Disu said, adding that sportsmen were also eager to use it once completed.
He thanked the minister and his team for “the wonderful job they are doing” and prayed for God’s guidance on the project.
The Minister of State, Permanent Secretary, directors, and presidential aides were present at the meeting. The Minister of State for Works was asked to respond to the IGP’s request after Disu’s presentation.
The IGP’s visit highlights growing concern over securing new federal infrastructure projects as Nigeria expands road networks meant to boost trade, tourism, and national integration.
