"Drivers and commuters have had a brimful of extortion and harassment from the motor park management and caretaker committee thugs popularly known as Agbero."
The seven-day strike embarked upon by commercial bus drivers in Lagos, Monday, left commuters standing at their bus stops for hours and forced motorcyclists to plug the gap.
The drivers under the aegis of the Joint Drivers' Welfare Association of Nigeria (JDWAN) had announced they would down their tools from 31st October over the inability of the state government to tackle the excessive levies by touts at garages and bus stops.
"Drivers and commuters have had a brimful of extortion and harassment from the motor park management and caretaker committee thugs popularly known as Agbero," Abiodun Akintade, the national leader of JDWAN, said in a statement on Sunday.
"It is also visible to the blind in Lagos that the cost of goods and services is a consequence of Agbero's extortion, no goods can be delivered and 95% of working-class residents can be transported without the service of commercial drivers.
"The unfettered and violent extortion by the Lagos government agents has not only increased transportation fare beyond the affordability of workers but also made every good and service out of reach of the poor Lagosians."
The People's Alternative Political Movement (TPAP- M), in a solidarity message to JDWAN, called for an end to the "unjust levies" inflicted on Lagos commercial bus, taxi, and tricycle drivers.
"The extortion of commercial vehicle drivers in the state has wider economic implications," the group said in a statement jointly signed by Affiong Affiong and Akinkunmi Olawoyin, interim chairperson and secretary respectively.
"It is one of the most critical drivers of inflation- the throttling levy imposed on the drivers has a direct effect on the supply chain of goods and services- consequently hiking the price of essential goods, commodities, and services in Lagos relative to other states.
"Putting an end to this state-approved extortion of drivers would bring down the high cost of living in Lagos and ensure profits of the drivers are not streamed illegally into the coffers of a rent-seeking state."
Okadas cash out
Commuters were stranded at major bus stops across the state. At some of the bus stops, only private cars and minibuses (popularly called Korope) were seen picking up passengers.
Commercial motorcyclists, who had been banned by the state government, were also carrying people desperate to get to their destinations.
The motorcyclists conveying people from Ijanikin, along the Lagos-Badagry expressway, to Igando, billed their passengers enormous amounts.
A motorcyclist, who was involved in an accident with a passenger he was taking from the popular Vespa market to Igando, said he was unhappy to not cash in on the windfall.
"I am not happy. I will first take this woman to the hospital, then go and fix my okada and also buy medicine for myself. All the money I have made today will be spent on all these things," said the motorcyclist who identified himself simply as Dantata.
"I already projected to make at least N40,000 today but I can't," he said.
The injured passenger, who did not give her name, said she doesn't have a choice but to take another motorcycle to her destination after her treatment because there are no buses.
"I left my house at Iyana Ipaja very early in the morning to the market to buy wares for my shop but I couldn't get a bus back so I had to take a motorcycle. If I had known that the drivers would stop work after dropping off passengers, I would have stayed at home," she said.
A witness who was at the scene of the accident told PREMIUM TIMES that the motorcycle rider was in a hurry to go and pick up passengers which is why he fell.
"Two people died this morning at Ayetoro bus stop when a motorcycle fell and an oncoming trainer crushed him and his passenger to death," he added.
A driver's perspective
Taofeek Hassan, a commercial bus driver, said although he and his colleagues observed the day's stay-at-home order, he wouldn't want it to continue for a week as he feeds his family from his daily proceeds.
He said the Lagos State government will not allow the stay-at-home to continue because they will lose a lot of money.
He advised Lagosians not to go out in the morning no matter how much they have because coming back will be difficult.
"Only those who are ready to use the e-hailing transport system can go out," he added.
Mr Hassan told PREMIUM TIMES that he pays as much as N21,500 as levies every day from Oko-Afor bus stop, Badagry, where he loads to CMS.
"I pay for loading at the Badagry park at every trip, I pay to tout at every bus stop at every trip and I pay to state government and local government once a day.
"We meet 98 bus stops at every trip from Seme border to CMS and we must pay N100 each at the bus stops aside from N800 that must be paid to the Lagos State government daily and N200 to the Local government."
Mr Hassan also lamented the torture they received at the hands of touts.
"Touts that collect money for different military outfits and unions beat us with our conductors and forcefully collect money from us when we refuse to pay," he continued.
"The extortion going on in the transport sector is killing us and our family members. How does the government want us to survive? The government should look into the situation and find a lasting solution, if not we can't continue to pay.
"The whole torture and enslavement are telling on our family too. We can't feed well nor pay our children school fees or engage in social activities," he added.
Opposition reacts
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On Sunday, Abdul-Azeez Adediran, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, condemned the excessive levies on the drivers and said he would end the excesses of the touts if elected in 2023.
On Monday, Tope Balogun, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance, said it was "unfortunate that the plights of the common man are continuously being overlooked despite being the most populous amongst the two divides of the society."
"The actions of the leaders as regards the agitations of the drivers association on the issue of uncontrolled extortions speak volumes on how much they care less about the comfort of the residents of the state," he said in a statement.
"It is pertinent to note that the park management committee has a mandate to regularize activities of their staff such that all illegalities and activities of those not associated with them can be curbed by the appropriate authorities.
"Unfortunately, this body put up by the state government to help avert the pains associated with the extortions going on within the state under different garb overlooked the advocacy for justice sought by the drivers union but resolved to ridicule and threats according to the president of the drivers association.
"The resultant effects of the avoidable strike going on presently in relation to the economic situation of the masses, companies, organizations and the government has led to loss of millions of naira which will continue to increase the hardship being experienced by the residents from many failed sectors of the economy."
