AS the driver of the 20-seater commercial bus, on Wednesday,
made to pass Ile Ewe Bus Stop on the Ikotun-Ejigbo Road , three young
men clambered in , one narrowly missing a slip that could have resulted
in some serious injuries.
Two grabbed the bus conductor , shouting : “Owo load !”, “Owo askari”! while the other stretched his hand and started tugging at the right rear-view mirror.
As the passengers rose in unison to challenge the intruders, the driver slowed down and parked.
The next 20 minutes were
spent in a melee that pitched the driver, his conductor and their passengers against the three men, who though did not put on any uniform were identified as notorious members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
“The government has banned you from bus stops and from extorting money from commercial transport operators so what are you doing here?” a woman among the passengers asked the three men.
“Oya, come and remove us from the bus stop, if you can” one of them fired back.
In the end, a compromise of sorts was reached.
The conductor parted with some money less than he would have given the agberos if the passengers had not intervened.
At Mile Two Bus Stop, an agbero drew the ire of a senior plain-clothed Naval Officer when he broke the side-view mirror of a commercial bus whose conductor did not pay what he had demanded.
The soldier who personally seized the agbero and took him before a police patrol team said he was particularly annoyed that the man added insult to injury by slapping the conductor when he challenged him over the damaged mirror.
As it was at Ile Ewe on Wednesday and Mile Two , so has it been from Cele Express to Ojuelegba, Oshodi to Mushin, Orile to Ijora, Ikotun to Iyana Ipaja, Agege to Ogba and all across the Lagos metropolis.
Members of the NURTW still terrorise commercial transport operators, extorting money and attacking them physically should they show any resistance.
What it means is that so far, the new Lagos State Traffic Law has not made any impact two weeks after it was signed by the governor, Babatunde Fashola.
To many Lagosians, it is still the same old story of intimidation, extortion at the hands of NURTW members .
At Ojuelegb, the NURTW members no longer wear their green and white uniforms but the harassment of commercial bus operators has not eased.
A commercial bus driver on the CMS - Ojuelegba route, Hassan Kasali told The Guardian that “at first I refused to pay any money to the boys because of the new law , but one of them warned me not to come back to Ojuelegba if I did not comply.
“My side mirror was pulled out, my windscreen was almost broken just because I refuse to part with my money in compliance with new state law.”
Another driver, Chinedu Onwubiko said the government should have made adequate arrangements to protect drivers and conductors before the law was passed.
“These agberos are now angry and very violent probably because they know that their days are numbered.
“But it would also help if police patrol teams are asked to assist us whenever we resist extortion and the agberos attack us”, Kasali said.
A commercial bus operator, Semiu Olusola, who plies Oshodi -Iyana-Ipaja expressed disappointment that the Lagos State government has not implemented the law it passed weeks ago.
“Of what use is the law if nobody obeys it?
“It is a pity that the government has permitted this extortion and harassment to continue even when there is a law against all that.”
A source at the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation said “government is about to embark on massive public enlightenment on all aspects of the law following which enforcement will commence.”
-Guardian
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Two grabbed the bus conductor , shouting : “Owo load !”, “Owo askari”! while the other stretched his hand and started tugging at the right rear-view mirror.
As the passengers rose in unison to challenge the intruders, the driver slowed down and parked.
The next 20 minutes were
spent in a melee that pitched the driver, his conductor and their passengers against the three men, who though did not put on any uniform were identified as notorious members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
“The government has banned you from bus stops and from extorting money from commercial transport operators so what are you doing here?” a woman among the passengers asked the three men.
“Oya, come and remove us from the bus stop, if you can” one of them fired back.
In the end, a compromise of sorts was reached.
The conductor parted with some money less than he would have given the agberos if the passengers had not intervened.
At Mile Two Bus Stop, an agbero drew the ire of a senior plain-clothed Naval Officer when he broke the side-view mirror of a commercial bus whose conductor did not pay what he had demanded.
The soldier who personally seized the agbero and took him before a police patrol team said he was particularly annoyed that the man added insult to injury by slapping the conductor when he challenged him over the damaged mirror.
As it was at Ile Ewe on Wednesday and Mile Two , so has it been from Cele Express to Ojuelegba, Oshodi to Mushin, Orile to Ijora, Ikotun to Iyana Ipaja, Agege to Ogba and all across the Lagos metropolis.
Members of the NURTW still terrorise commercial transport operators, extorting money and attacking them physically should they show any resistance.
What it means is that so far, the new Lagos State Traffic Law has not made any impact two weeks after it was signed by the governor, Babatunde Fashola.
To many Lagosians, it is still the same old story of intimidation, extortion at the hands of NURTW members .
At Ojuelegb, the NURTW members no longer wear their green and white uniforms but the harassment of commercial bus operators has not eased.
A commercial bus driver on the CMS - Ojuelegba route, Hassan Kasali told The Guardian that “at first I refused to pay any money to the boys because of the new law , but one of them warned me not to come back to Ojuelegba if I did not comply.
“My side mirror was pulled out, my windscreen was almost broken just because I refuse to part with my money in compliance with new state law.”
Another driver, Chinedu Onwubiko said the government should have made adequate arrangements to protect drivers and conductors before the law was passed.
“These agberos are now angry and very violent probably because they know that their days are numbered.
“But it would also help if police patrol teams are asked to assist us whenever we resist extortion and the agberos attack us”, Kasali said.
A commercial bus operator, Semiu Olusola, who plies Oshodi -Iyana-Ipaja expressed disappointment that the Lagos State government has not implemented the law it passed weeks ago.
“Of what use is the law if nobody obeys it?
“It is a pity that the government has permitted this extortion and harassment to continue even when there is a law against all that.”
A source at the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation said “government is about to embark on massive public enlightenment on all aspects of the law following which enforcement will commence.”
-Guardian
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