Defence Minister Calls for Reintroduction of Modernised Tollgates to Track Criminals, Safeguard Lives

A modernised, technology-driven tollgate is an automated road checkpoint that combines tolling equipment with digital security tools. It would not depend on officers taking cash from drivers. Its importance lies in making major highways easier to monitor while reducing the weaknesses linked to older tollgate operations.

The minister says automated systems could capture vehicle registration numbers instantly and track movement across interstate corridors. They could also connect tollgate information with efforts to trace or apprehend suspects. In this model, the tollgate becomes both a transport facility and a non-kinetic security tool.

Older tollgates faced operational abuses, according to General Christopher Musa. Modern technology, he argues, can eliminate those vulnerabilities by replacing cash transactions with automation. He wants tollgates strategically reinstated on major highways, helping protect travel, farming and trade while improving real-time security information.

Tollgates could serve as security checkpoints because they create controlled points where vehicles pass and can be digitally recorded. The minister presents them as infrastructure for monitoring movement across major highways. This matters because investigators could use road data to understand where vehicles travelled and identify patterns linked to crime.

For example, an automated tollgate could capture a vehicle’s registration number as it passes. Systems across interstate corridors could compare those records, track movement and help authorities trace or apprehend suspects. The process would happen without cash handling, making the checkpoint faster and more connected to security operations.

Musa says tollgates already function as vital security checkpoints globally, but Nigeria’s former system suffered operational abuses. He believes technology can remove those weaknesses. Reinstating modern tollgates would therefore support safer travel and trade while giving security agencies an additional, non-kinetic way to gather intelligence.

General Christopher Musa proposes combining three main identification tools in a national security system. They are unique identification numbers, facial recognition and biometric data. The goal is to verify records more accurately and remove uncertainty about who people are.

A person’s unique number could be checked against a central record, while facial recognition and biometric data could provide additional confirmation. This layered approach would make it harder for identity ambiguity to persist. It would also help officials connect reliable identity information with wider security investigations and intelligence gathering.

The minister says Nigeria urgently needs a streamlined, foolproof national identification system. He links the proposed tools to a comprehensive, centralised digital identification architecture. If established, that architecture would close persistent security loopholes and improve real-time intelligence gathering across the federation.

The defence minister describes the removal and destruction of Nigeria’s former tollgates as a strategic mistake because tollgates can do more than collect road fees. In his view, they can provide security checkpoints on major highways. Removing them discarded infrastructure that could help monitor movement and protect communities.

Musa’s proposed replacement would use ICT and automation rather than the older cash-based model. Automated systems could capture registration numbers, record vehicles travelling across interstate corridors and support efforts to trace or apprehend suspects. This would turn tolling points into non-kinetic security infrastructure.

The minister acknowledges that tollgates faced operational abuses in the past. However, he argues that modern technological integration can eliminate those vulnerabilities. His call is therefore not simply to restore the old system, but to reinstate tollgates under a modernised framework that supports safer travel, farming and trade.

Automated tollgates could collect a vehicle’s registration number and records of its movement across interstate corridors. This information would create a digital trail showing when vehicles passed monitored points. It matters because investigators could use that trail to connect vehicles with routes, locations and possible criminal activity.

For instance, a system could instantly capture a registration number at one tollgate and recognise the same vehicle at another point. Authorities could track its movement across corridors and use the record to help trace or apprehend a suspect. The minister says this process would happen seamlessly through automation, without cash transactions.

The proposal depends on technology-driven tolling becoming part of wider security work. Musa presents the system as a formidable non-kinetic tool, especially after the abuses associated with older tollgates. Reinstated modern tollgates could therefore provide real-time movement information while supporting safer travel and trade.

A centralised digital identity system would complement tollgate records by helping authorities determine who is connected to a vehicle or movement record. Tollgates could show where a vehicle travelled, while identity records could reduce uncertainty about the people involved. Together, they would provide stronger information for security investigations.

The minister proposes combining unique identification numbers, facial recognition and biometric data. These tools could verify records and eliminate identity ambiguity. A centralised architecture would allow relevant information to be organised in one system, making it easier to check identities and connect them with intelligence gathered from monitored corridors.

Musa says Nigeria needs a streamlined, foolproof national identification system to address broader security challenges. He believes this architecture would close persistent security loopholes and improve real-time intelligence gathering across the federation. Its forward value would be greater coordination between identity verification and automated movement records.

Stronger civilian policing is necessary because the military’s constitutional role is defending Nigeria’s territorial integrity. Musa says the Armed Forces legitimately support internal security when challenges exceed police capacity. A capable police system would handle more of that work, allowing soldiers to leave prolonged domestic deployments.

The minister points to troops spending years deployed across regions such as the North-west, away from their families and loved ones. He is concerned about the fatigue caused by this extended service. Better police recruitment, training and operational capacity would give civilian authorities greater ability to manage internal threats and protect communities.

Musa says active measures are already underway to strengthen the police. The broader aim is a robust civil policing system that lets the military gradually withdraw, return to barracks and rest. He wants security to shift from reactive measures to a proactive stance ahead of 2027.