The security outfit known as Amotekun Corps, which operates in the southwestern region of Nigeria, prevented a robbery attack on vehicles along the Akure-Ilesa Expressway on Friday.

According to the Commander of the Amotekun Corps in Osun, retired Brig-Gen. Bashir Adewinmbi, the robbers attacked vehicles near the Ileki/Osu axis of the Ilesha-Akure Road for almost an hour, shooting into the air and forcing drivers to abandon their vehicles and flee into nearby bushes. However, an Amotekun patrol team arrived on the scene after being alerted by a motorist who had escaped the ambush. The robbers fled when they saw the patrol team approaching. The Amotekun team recovered a truck loaded with diesel and petrol, which had been abandoned by its driver, and contacted the owner and the driver’s assistant who had fled into the bush. The driver and his assistant explained that they had been ambushed while traveling from Lagos to Abuja through Lokoja.

The recovered vehicle, with its goods still intact, was released to the driver in Osogbo the next day, in the presence of police operatives from the Ayeso Police Station in Ilesha.

The police commended the Amotekun team for their efforts and called for more collaboration to address the increasing incidents of highway robberies, particularly along the Owena-Ile-Ife Expressway in Osun.

Adewinmbi advised motorists, especially those transporting expensive goods, to avoid traveling at night or to be cautious about the routes they take if they must travel at night.