The Leader of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has issued a stark security warning concerning a potential threat on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, calling on the nation’s security agencies to immediately scale up surveillance. Speaking directly to his congregation during a Sunday service at the church’s headquarters, the cleric announced that he foresaw heavily armed bandits launching coordinated ambushes to block the critical transit corridor between July and August. While noting that he could not pinpoint the precise days of the planned operations, he emphasized that the threat window spans the upcoming two months.
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is widely recognized as Nigeria’s most critical and heavily traveled economic artery. It serves as the primary gateway linking Lagos, the nation’s commercial capital, to the rest of the South-West geopolitical zone. The highway handles thousands of commuter buses, heavy-duty fuel tankers, and interstate haulage trucks daily, acting as the logistical bridge between the southern seaports and northern Nigerian markets, making any disruption a massive blow to national trade.
Primate Ayodele voiced a direct appeal to the top hierarchy of Nigeria’s security apparatus, insisting that the warning should not be dismissed or treated lightly. He specifically warned that bandits would cross and block the road, urging security operatives to note this and act. The cleric has previously been critical of the Federal Government’s counter-terrorism approaches, repeatedly urging state actors to adopt forward-leaning intelligence-gathering methods rather than relying entirely on reactive kinetic operations after attacks have occurred.
The security alert emerges amid broader public anxiety over the expanding footprint of criminal syndicates into the South-West region. The region has seen an uptick in rural banditry and high-profile highway abductions, notably highlighted by recent targeted incursions in neighboring Oyo State. Travelers have frequently expressed concern over vulnerable stretches of the highway where dense forest cover provides tactical concealment for criminal elements looking to launch sudden ambushes on unsuspecting commuters.
As of the time of reporting, the federal government and the Nigeria Police Force have not published a specialized security advisory or formal response addressing the cleric’s specific public declarations. However, regional joint task forces, alongside state-backed enforcement units like the Amotekun Corps, have quietly sustained ongoing forest sweeps and highway checkpoints along boundaries connecting Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo states. Commuters are nonetheless being advised by local transport unions to remain highly vigilant and monitor security updates closely during the specified months.