The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), has called for the urgent reintroduction of tollgates equipped with modern surveillance technology on major highways across Nigeria.
​Speaking on Thursday, November 5, 2026, during a strategic security engagement with key stakeholders at the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Abuja, Gen. Musa stated that tech-enabled checkpoints are essential for monitoring interstate transit, identifying suspicious vehicle movements, and tracking criminal elements in real time.
​Addressing concerns over highway safety and persistent banditry, the Defence Minister acknowledged that dismantling Nigeria’s tollgate infrastructure in the past was a strategic oversight.
​”Reintroducing tollgates integrated with modern digital surveillance is crucial for our national security,” Gen. Musa declared. “When we have automated check points featuring automated license plate recognition, facial recognition systems, and real-time network databases, it becomes exponentially harder for criminal syndicates, kidnappers, and arms traffickers to move freely along critical transit corridors.”
​Gen. Musa further noted that the military remains overstretched by prolonged internal security deployments. Deploying smart highway technology will enable security agencies to track criminal networks more effectively while allowing military forces to gradually hand over routine highway policing to civil security structures.
​Speaking at the event, the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Henshaw Ogubike, emphasized that the proposed security levies and tollgate systems will be designed to minimise motorist delays while maximising surveillance coverage.
​The Minister concluded by reiterating that the ultimate metric of security success will be when Nigerian farmers can safely return to their fields, traders can travel interstate without fear, and commercial activities resume unhindered along all major transport corridors.
