Kuola/Akala Express Road in Ibadan is becoming increasingly vulnerable.
The route, which links the old Ibadan-Lagos Road to Apata, Owode, and Omi-Adio, is now known for various negative vices, despite its fast-growing and vibrant status.
This area is undoubtedly becoming a new business hub and a center for nightlife in the South West Local Government, second only to Ring Road.
Unfortunately, it is also a location that many people dread to drive or walk through carelessly at night due to car robberies, pickpocketing, and accidents caused by reckless driving.
In fact, different crime gangs now use Akala Express as their operational base. Recently, a notorious two-man car robbery group was apprehended near Liberty Stadium.
They confessed to operating from Akala Express Road, where they primarily targeted e-hailing drivers, luring them to the area under the presence of looking for ride before robbing them of their cars and valuables.
There was also an incident involving an armed gang that trailed the son of a prominent Ibadan businessman from an ATM at one of the new generation banks in Challenge to Ire-Akari along Elebu Road, off Akala Express. They shot him and robbed him of an undisclosed amount of money, leading to his death.
The situation has become so dire that when there are no robbery incidents, there are often fatal accidents occurring on the road.
All these, our findings show, are result of the porosity of the axis being a developing area. We also find that the unfavourable occurrences at the area may not be detached from the massive influx of internet fraudsters (Yahoo Boys) within the proximity either as landlords or tenants as well as the huge presence of lounges and night clubs.
"It has to do with the patrons," a landlord in the Tipper Garage area, who simply gave his name as Mr. Lanre, stated, adding that "the area has a lot of youths living around, and the fact that it is now home to 'yahoo boys'and drug abusers."
Another resident of the Akala Express area, Mr. Lekan Adepoju, stated that most of the atrocities committed in the area can be associated with the fact that the axis is filled with various illegal activities. "From drugs to sex workers to fraudsters to possible ritualists and other vices," he noted
Akala Express Road was initiated by the late former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala around 2011-2013.
The 11.8-kilometer project was, however, officially completed by the administration of the current governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, in 2024.
Since it was commissioned, the road, which runs from the New Garage point of the old Ibadan-Lagos Road and links areas like Kuola, Jankata, Bembo, Apata, and Owode to the Abeokuta-Ibadan expressway, has significantly addressed the constant gridlock at Apata as well as eased vehicular movement on Ring Road.
Anyone coming from Lagos who wants to link to Apata, Owode, or the Abeokuta Express Road no longer needs to go through Ring Road.
It has also enhanced accessibility to markets, schools, and healthcare facilities, while opening up the area for real estate growth. A plot of land in that axis, especially close to the main road, now goes for as high as 30 to 40 million naira.
Credit: City People
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