Ogun Residents Identify Forest Routes Used By Bandits

Residents of Ogun State have identified forest routes allegedly used by bandits and kidnappers to infiltrate the state and carry out criminal activities.

Naija News reports that the residents raised the alarm amid growing concerns over recent kidnapping incidents in parts of the state.

Speaking with Punch on the development, the National Coordinator of Food and Farmers’ Rights Campaign, John Eko, said forests around Imodi/Imosan, Ago-Iwoye, Imope/Oke-Eri, Ijebu-Ijesa, Okun-Owa and Ikangba/Agoro in the Ijebu-Ode axis had become hotspots for criminal elements.

Eko said the forests had become safe havens where bandits and kidnappers operate with little resistance.

According to him, the criminals access the forest routes through the Ijebu Ode-Ibadan Expressway, Ago-Iwoye-Imodi Road and the Old Lagos-Benin Road along the Ikangba/Agoro-Okun-Owa axis.

A vast, uncultivated land bordering Oyo Forest was also said to be serving as a hideout for bandits.

Findings showed that more than five abduction incidents had been recorded around the Ijebu axis recently, with millions of naira reportedly paid as ransom.

Ogun Govt Assures Residents

Reacting, the Special Adviser to Governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, said the state government had adopted proactive and intelligence-led security measures.

He said the measures were aimed at preventing criminal elements from gaining a foothold in any part of Ogun State.

According to him, security agencies had intensified inter-agency deployments, coordinated patrols, stop-and-search operations, surveillance and bush-combing exercises across vulnerable areas.

Akinmade said, “In recent days, combined security operatives carried out extensive forest-combing operations within identified flashpoints, leading to the neutralisation of some suspected kidnappers, the arrest of several others and the rescue of kidnapped victims held within forest corridors.

“Particular attention is being paid to border communities, forest corridors, isolated settlements and suspected infiltration routes between Ogun and neighbouring states.”

The spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, said the command had continued to strengthen security across the state.

She said Ogun’s position as a gateway state required sustained vigilance and coordinated policing.

“As a strategic gateway state, the command has continued to tighten all loose ends through coordinated policing strategies, enhanced surveillance, aggressive patrols and sustained intelligence gathering aimed at denying criminal elements the opportunity to infiltrate or operate within the state,” Odutola said.