Political economist Professor Pat Utomi, has urged federal and state authorities to deploy drone technology to monitor Nigeria’s major highways, describing it as an efficient way to curb the rising incidents of attacks and kidnappings on the roads.
Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, Utomi expressed concern over what he termed the country’s sluggish response to insecurity.
He argued that securing key transport corridors should not be difficult if the necessary political will existed.
Utomi noted that Nigeria has relatively few major highways, making aerial surveillance both manageable and effective.
According to him, drones equipped with real-time monitoring capabilities could easily detect suspicious movements around the edges of highways and within nearby forests long before criminals strike.
“There is no reason Nigeria cannot maintain drones above its main road networks,” he said, adding that technology would help security agents identify threats early and intervene before travellers are endangered.
The professor also faulted the widespread reliance on static police checkpoints, which he said do little to deter organised criminal gangs.
Instead, he recommended a system of “rolling roadblocks,” with several teams of armed police patrol vehicles moving continuously along critical routes.
This approach, he said, would increase unpredictability and ensure a constant security sweep.
Using the Benin–Ore highway as an example, Utomi explained that multiple patrol units moving at intervals would create a layered, overlapping presence capable of deterring attacks and responding swiftly when incidents occur.
He emphasised that modern policing models favour mobility and intelligence-led patrols over fixed checkpoints.
