December 9, 2025
Political economist Prof. Pat Utomi has advocated the deployment of drones to monitor Nigeria’s highways, describing aerial surveillance as a practical solution to persistent insecurity across major routes.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on Sunday, Utomi stressed that state governors must work together to adopt technology-driven security strategies. He criticized what he termed the nation’s poor attitude toward insecurity, noting that protecting highways should be straightforward if leaders considered it a real priority.
According to him, Nigeria has “not a lot of highways,” making comprehensive surveillance achievable with modern tools.
He said: “There should be aerial surveillance, drones over those roads because looking at the edges of the roads, whoever is inside the bush, they will see them long before anybody even tries to come out to the road to try and attack anybody.”
Utomi further argued that traditional checkpoints were ineffective and outdated. Instead, he emphasized that police forces were designed to operate with mobility and flexibility.
He said: “We should literally have rolling roadblocks: two, three police vehicles on this side and this side, a couple of meters apart, just moving.”
Expanding on the idea, he added that multiple mobile units should patrol major routes simultaneously to maintain constant visibility and deter criminal activity.
He said: “So, by the time they reach, say, if you are between Benin and Ore, about four different sets of three police cars, well-armed, will be moving at distances between each other. So, there is a sweep, ongoing sweep.”
Utomi’s call aligns with growing public demand for technology-led security reforms, especially as banditry and kidnapping continue to threaten road travel across the country.
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