Some commuters in parts of the Mosan Okunola in the Alimosho area of Lagos were left stranded on Tuesday morning after several commercial motorcyclists, popular known as Okada riders, staged a protest over what they described as excessive ticket and loading fees.
Business Post gathered the riders, who are predominantly from the northern part of Nigeria, alleged that they are compelled to buy tickets costing about N600 daily, in addition to paying a loading fee for every passenger they carry.
According to the protesters, who were seen carrying sticks and other weapons for protest, the loading charges, which was previously N100, has recently been increased by 100 per cent to N200 per passenger.
According to one of the riders who spoke with our correspondent, who identified himself as Yahaya, the decision was carried out without consultation with them.
He said, “Dem no (They did not) tell us anything, dem just stand for road dey collect N200.”
Another rider said that they’ve constantly faced harassment from members of taskforce of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) without any say in the matter.
Some argued that the combined costs have significantly reduced their earnings, making it increasingly difficult to sustain their operations as most passengers find it difficult to pay high price of fares.
Many riders have refused to work, leading to commuters being dropped halfway or stranded at bus stops, leaving them scrambling for alternative means of transport to their destinations, including through tricycles, popularly known as Keke Napep.
Efforts for comments from the executives of NURTW were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report, but one of the taskforce members at the Okunola Bus Stop, who begged not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press on the matter said they were acting based on an order from above.
Also, some police officials have moved to the area to maintain law and order, as the situation was almost degenerating into chaos and tension among residents of the area.