From Ibadan to Iseyin is 72km. About 8 – 10 police checkpoints.
Oyo to Iseyin is 42km. More than 6 police checkpoints
Iseyin to Saki is about 83km. About 10 or more police checkpoints
Iseyin to Okeho: About 5 checkpoints
Igboora to Igangan: About 5 checkpoints
Igangan to Iganna: Around 6 checkpoints
No commercial motor or motorcycle can go without without dropping N100.
Private vehicles too will have to answer many questions, even with your with your particulars intact. You’ll be questioned to the point of frustration.
The worst of them all is Iseyin to Abeokuta. Just about 105km, I counted 26 checkpoints. The drivers must part with N100, or N200. Some even demanded N500. If the driver begs for negotiations, he would be told to pack well. Each driver spends up to N4,000 or more between Iseyin and Abeokuta alone.
From Abeokuta to Lagos is around 150km, just about one or two checkpoints, they would not even stop vehicles unless they suspect something.
Some even call themselves border patrols. Nigerian border is more than 200km away from Iseyin, I wonder what border patrols are doing along Iseyin/Ibadan and ISEYIN Oyo roads which is about 2010km away from border.
The passengers are the ones suffering with all these money extortions because the drivers would place all their expenses on the passengers.
For example, Iseyin to Ibadan is N700.
Iseyin to Oyo is N300. Iseyin to Lagos is between N2,500 and N3000, whereas transportation fare between Ibadan and its environs does not exceed N4,000 on the same type of vehicle. Governments of Ogun and Oyo states together with the federal government should please help us in this zone before it would go out of hand.
The suffering is becoming too much, pack them out of the roads, we are not criminals, we toil in the farms before we get money.
Afolabi Abdulganiy writes from Iseyin
