Commuters stranded as Lagos drivers begin seven-day boycott
Some commuters were left stranded this morning as commercial bus drivers under the aegis of the Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria began a seven-day boycott of Lagos roads.
The drivers are protesting the alleged extortion by men of the motor parks and garages management in the state.
In a statement jointly signed by its chairman Opeyemi Sulaiman and secretary Ajimatanarareje Feyisayo, the protesting drivers decried the “indiscriminate extortion and violent harassment” by transport agencies, thugs, the police, and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA). JDWAN particularly complained about the actions of Lagos State Parks and Garages Management Committee members headed by Musiliu Akinsanya, better known as MC Oluomo, ex-chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
They urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration to look into motor parks’ excesses, illegal ticketing and tolling “at almost every bus stop”. JDWAN members said on a daily basis, they lose half of their income to park boys, transport agencies, and others.
They disclosed that exorbitant charges are paid in the garages and at bus stops and that whether they pick passengers or not, “we pay morning, afternoon and night”.
The statement informed the public that some routes have as many as 25 bus stops “which also serve as illegal tax collection avenues”.
It revealed that from Badagry to Mile 2, between N3,500 & N5,000 is paid, apart from park hoodlums who collect N200 or N300 per bus. Buses plying Yaba to Ikeja pay at total of N1,300 – N200 at Jibowu, Onipanu N200, Elediye N200, Palmgrove N200, Total bus stop N100, Fadeyi N100, Anthony N100, Ikeja N200.
While heading back to Yaba, N500 each is paid at Palmgrove & Onipanu, Fadeyi & Total N500 each, Yaba N200, Lagos ticket N800.
The statement noted that when members resist extortion, they are arrested and forced to pay N10,000 for bail to the police while the motor park boys go free. The aggrieved drivers also claim they pay for entertainment, security, unit chairman’s food and many other levies “with threat of violence at any slight refusal”.
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