Commercial bus drivers plying the Badagry-Mile 2 axis of Lagos State have cried out over extortion. 
The bus drivers affected are under the aegis of Mega-City Transport Association, MCTA.
Some commercial bus drivers, who spoke to NAN, said they would not return to work along the axis unless government intervened to address an outrageous hike in ticket fees by transport unions in Lagos.
The drivers said that unions under the aegis of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) are responsible for regulating the affairs of commercial buses in the axis.
They have urged the Lagos State government and security agencies to rescue them from extortion, assault and kidnapping, allegedly carried out by members of the NURTW and RTEAN.
Mr. Jude Ogunmola, Chairman of the MCTA, accused officials suspected to be members of RTEAN of assaulting drivers and vandalizing their vehicles.
The group added that the high ticket fee of N7000 per day, per vehicle, being collected from drivers by NURTW and RTEAN, was too exorbitant, which led to the peaceful protest held recently.
Ogunmola also alleged that motor park boys, also known as Agberos, kidnapped some of their drivers and took them to unidentified destinations.
He said:
“We want to make it clear to the public and the Lagos State government that the National Union of Road Transport Workers and Road Transport Employer’ Association of Nigeria are not our representatives as none of our drivers is a member of the two unions.
“We pay tickets at every bus-stop and those agberos do not have buses on the road.
‘The harassment of the agberos on the drivers is becoming alarming and worrisome such that the Agberos beat the drivers and bus conductors, coupled with damaging their vehicles.
‘There should be no longer national and state tickets.
“We can no longer pay to NURTW and RTEAN, the high ticket fee of N7000 per day per vehicle as that is too much for us, they should release all our kidnapped drivers.
“They should treat all our injured drivers and compensate them; all vehicles destroyed should be repaired,” he said.
A resident shared his experience on March 6th 2021
Today again was worse, police were there and public drivers association members were seen on the road, stopping anybody carrying passenger..
One driver told me that they pay #1200 at Badagry garage for loading, then from there to iyanoba every busstop they pay either #50 or #100… Now this has made the main transportation to be Okada.. ordinarily, okada from Iyanera to Okoko is #300 max.. but today it is #700.. for one passenger…
Residents of the axis lamented bitterly as the drivers refused to work. Lots of commuters were stranded due to the strike.
Some drivers said that members of the unions are allegedly extorting bus drivers by collecting exorbitant ticket fees, as well as allegedly brutalizing drivers who failed to cooperate with them.
According to them, the union has indiscriminately increased the price of their ticket from N500 to N800 without a warning notice.
A commercial bus driver, Mr Henry Anyawu said that at each bus stop from Badagry to Mile 2, he spends between N600 to N700, adding that there are about 20 or more bus stops from Badagry to Mile 2.
According to him, the recent cease commuter action was unavoidably embarked on by drivers, because the union has now introduced a new ticket of N800.
He added that drivers now spend up to N1,000 at every bus stop. He said that apart from the ticket fees, they also extort other amount of money, ranging from N50 to N200.
Anyawu said that after paying all these monies to “agberos” and also buying diesel for their buses, they are left with “peanut” to fend for their families.
“We work and work and at the end of the day we get nothing, so we decided that instead of continuous suffering we go on strike. “Even when we confront and try to negotiate with these “agberos” they gang up and beat us up, and even discharge our passengers; so we need government to come to our rescue. “We are not quarreling or fighting, we only need help; we can’t be working tirelessly and still gain nothing; it is like suffering for nothing,” he said.
He said that the strike action was also for the benefit of passengers because if there was hike in the ticket fees, there would be a corresponding hike in the cost of transportation. He, consequently, beckoned on government to come to the rescue of commercial bus drivers in the state.
Have you passed this route recently ? Please share your experience