The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), has called for the reintroduction of modernised, technology-driven tollgates on major highways across the country, describing them as critical security infrastructure for tracking criminal activities and protecting lives and livelihoods.
Musa said tollgates served as important security checkpoints in many countries and should be re-established in Nigeria under a modernised framework.
According to a statement by the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Leah Katung-Babatunde, Musa described the removal and destruction of tollgates across the country as a strategic mistake.
The minister made the call over the weekend while participating as a panellist at the Abuja Round Table, tagged ‘Promise to Proof: The Renewed Hope Conversation’.
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He spoke during a session titled ‘Safe to Farm, Travel and Trade: Protecting Lives and Livelihoods in Every Community’.
According to him, modern Information and Communications Technology and automation have made cashless toll collection possible, allowing authorities to monitor vehicles and track suspected criminals.
“With modern Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and automation, toll collection no longer requires cash transactions. Automated systems can instantly capture vehicle registration numbers, track vehicular movements across interstate corridors, and seamlessly trace or apprehend suspects,” he said.
The minister noted that although tollgates were previously affected by operational abuses, modern technology could address such weaknesses and make automated tolling an effective non-kinetic security tool.
Musa also highlighted the need for a streamlined and reliable national identification system to tackle broader security challenges.
He said integrating unique identification numbers, facial recognition and biometric data would help verify identities, improve record-keeping and eliminate identity ambiguity.
According to him, a comprehensive and centralised digital identification system would close persistent security loopholes and strengthen real-time intelligence gathering across the country.
Speaking on military deployment, the minister said the Armed Forces of Nigeria were constitutionally mandated to defend the country’s territorial integrity but could support internal security operations when challenges exceeded the capacity of the police.
However, he expressed concern over the fatigue experienced by military personnel due to prolonged internal security deployments.
“Our troops have spent years deployed across regions such as the North-west, away from their families and loved ones,” he said.
Musa said efforts were underway to strengthen police recruitment, training and operational capacity to enable the force to take greater responsibility for internal security.
He said the objective was to build a robust civil policing system that would allow the military to gradually withdraw from internal security operations, return to the barracks and rest.
He added that strengthening the police would help shift the country’s security approach from reactive measures to a more proactive system ahead of the 2027 elections.
The minister also stressed that Nigeria’s greatest strength lay in its unity, noting that the country’s major challenge was not a lack of resources or firepower but internal divisions and insufficient cohesion among citizens.
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