Ondo election: Dozens of passengers stranded as police close Benin-Ore expressway

As earlier forewarned, the joint military and police patrol unit in Ondo state on Saturday morning closed the Benin-Ore expressway to prevent entry into the state during the governorship elections.

The three main contenders for the top seat at the Alagbaka Government House are the incumbent governor, Olusegun Mimiko (Labour Party); Rotimi Akeredolu (Action Congress of Nigeria); and Olusola Oke (Peoples Democratic Party).

In a telephone interview, the Deputy Corp officer Enlightenment of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), Bisi Kasim told Channels Television that the closure is to forestall movement into the state by people who have nothing to do with the election.

He expressed displeasure that despite earlier warnings, there are still a lot of stranded passengers and motorists who are attempting to beat the blockade at the Oni Paraga area in the Ondo axis of the expressway.

One of the angry motorists questioned the rationale behind the closure of the road asking "How can the whole of South-South and South-East be bedridden and imprisoned because of one state election?"

"We have been held up for over 2hours now at the same spot at the border between ondo state and ogun state at the sagamu benin express way," a passenger posted on Nairaland forum, a social media plateform.

In the meantime the FRSC have advised motorists to ply alternative routes such as the Lagos/Ibadan/Ilesha/Ekiti/Kabba/Okene or Abuja/Okene/Kabba/Omuo/Ibadan.