Longbridge goes dark again as more solar streetlights disappear
More solar-powered streetlights have disappeared from Longbridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, leaving parts of the busy corridor in darkness again.
A fresh inspection found that several lights still standing during an earlier assessment had also been removed, with only a handful visible along parts of the bridge.
At least 168 lights were already missing
An August field count found that at least 168 solar-powered streetlights had been removed from Longbridge.
The lights were installed in 2025 along the roughly five-kilometre bridge to improve night-time illumination for motorists.
The latest inspection shows that further installations have disappeared since then, but no new verified total has been published.
Four suspects were previously charged
Ogun State Police said four suspects were arrested in August over alleged vandalism of streetlights and other infrastructure along the corridor and were charged to court.
Those arrests do not establish guilt.
They also do not prove that the suspects are responsible for the additional streetlights now reported missing.
Reduced lighting returns to a busy corridor
The clearest consequence is reduced night-time illumination on a heavily used section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The available evidence does not establish that the missing lights caused any particular crash, robbery or other incident.
That distinction matters because poor lighting may create a road-safety concern without proving causation in a specific accident or crime.
Who will replace and protect the lights?
Federal works officials have acknowledged the latest removals and referred to security patrols around the bridge.
The accountability questions are now straightforward: How many lights remain? When will missing units be replaced? And what will prevent repeated vandalism?
For motorists, the immediate consequence is simpler: a major expressway section is again operating with reduced night-time lighting.
