Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A serving National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Segun Ajibare, has been arrested and detained at the Oke‑Kura Correctional Centre in Ilorin, Kwara State, following his persistent social media commentaries and podcasts demanding accountability over the collapse of the Moro Bridge, a vital colonial‑era structure on the Ilorin–Igbeti Federal Highway that links Kwara and Oyo States. The bridge collapsed in the early hours of April 30, 2026, after a heavy‑duty truck attempted to cross the fragile Bailey bridge, causing the structure to cave in and cutting off vehicular movement between the two states.
Ajibare, who is serving his national service in Osogbo, Osun State, was picked up on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and transported to Ilorin. According to sources familiar with the development, he was taken directly to the Oke‑Kura Correctional Centre without being arraigned in open court. The arrest and detention have been linked to complaints filed by Abdulquawiy Olododo, a former Commissioner for Works in Kwara State who now is a House of Representatives aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In May 2024, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq approved the immediate rehabilitation of the Moro Steel Bridge following significant cracks and wear from years of heavy usage. At the time, Olododo, then Commissioner for Works, described the intervention as a temporary measure to ensure safety and ease of movement, pending the Federal Government’s completion of a new concrete bridge. In a statement issued after the collapse, Olododo announced immediate traffic diversion and mobilisation of engineers to palliative works on alternative routes to reduce hardship for road users.
A key point of contention is the reported cost of the rehabilitation. In a viral podcast posted on May 4, 2026, titled “Moro Bridge collapse: Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s 2024 rehab under Abdulquawiy Olododo now questioned—₦27m vs ₦1.2bn, Kwarans demand full transparency,” Ajibare questioned the cost, quality and transparency of the project, drawing attention to alleged discrepancies in the amount said to have been spent. The Kwara State Ministry of Works has since denied spending N1.2 billion on the bridge, clarifying in a statement that the last palliative intervention cost only N27 million and was carried out with the full knowledge of the Federal Government, which has authority over the federal facility. The ministry called the claim in Ajibare’s video “a malicious campaign of calumny” and “a sponsored attack on the government and Hon. Olododo for political reasons.”
Shortly before his phone was seized, Ajibare managed to send an emergency message to associates, narrating his ordeal and disclosing that security operatives showed him a court order directing his detention. “It is an order to remand me in jail. They showed me and NYSC court order,” he wrote. “The officers don’t want us to escalate further. They just want the issue to be resolved. But the court order is to take me to jail directly.” According to sources, Olododo allegedly filed a complaint against the corps member after the podcasts were published. One officer involved in the operation privately disclosed to Ajibare that the former commissioner was behind the arrest order, though they asked him not to disclose it. The officers also informed him that they had followed procedures, including obtaining permission from the NYSC and informing the Civil Defence command in Osogbo before the arrest.
A security source who spoke with SaharaReporters said the corps member was moved to Ilorin by a joint team of DSS and NSCDC officials. “Ajibare has been taken to Oke‑Kura Correctional Centre in Ilorin. They moved him from Osun with DSS and NSCDC officials,” the source said. The detention of a corps member for exercising his right to freedom of expression and demanding accountability from public officials has sparked outrage among civil society groups, press freedom advocates and political commentators. The Oke‑Kura facility, originally known as Ilorin Federal Prison, is a historic colonial‑era prison built in 1915 and renamed following the passage of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act in 2019. It is a maximum‑security facility that has housed convicts and awaiting‑trial inmates for over a century.
Human rights lawyers have described the detention as unlawful. “A person cannot be remanded in prison custody based solely on a complaint without being arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction. This is a gross violation of the suspect’s fundamental rights to personal liberty and fair hearing,” said a Lagos‑based lawyer who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity. The Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, including the right to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights also guarantees the right to freely express and disseminate opinions.
For now, Segun Ajibare remains at the Oke‑Kura Correctional Centre, where he is presumably awaiting his day in court. His family has called for his immediate release, while civil society groups have demanded an explanation from the Kwara State Government and security agencies. The state government has not responded to the detention. Olododo, who is seeking to represent the Moro/Ifelodun/Oke‑Ero federal constituency in the House of Representatives, has not publicly commented on the matter. Attempts by SaharaReporters to reach him were unsuccessful.
A young Nigerian who asked questions about a bridge that collapsed is now behind bars. The Moro Bailey Bridge, built during the colonial era, has long been recognised as a fragile point of infrastructure, but the questions raised about its rehabilitation have now been overshadowed by the detention of the man who raised them. For now, the bridge remains in ruins, and the debate over N27 million versus N1.2 billion continues, while a youth corps member sits inside a maximum‑security facility built by the British over a hundred years ago.
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