JDWAN urged the Lagos state government to arrest and publicly prosecute the “violent agberos (motor park thugs) that attack us daily, stop the extortion at every bus stop and give the poor drivers some time.”
The Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria (JDWAN) says its members still face violent attacks from hoodlums and motor park thugs and officials in Lagos.
The Lagos chapter of JDWAN is the umbrella body of commercial drivers in the state.
In a statement on Wednesday signed by its National Leader, Akintade Abiodun, JDWAN urged the Lagos state government to arrest and publicly prosecute the “violent agberos (motor park thugs) that attack us daily, stop the extortion at every bus stop and give the poor drivers some time.”
The statement read, “While we await the Lagos state to fulfill its promises to stop extortion and violent attack on commercial drivers after the recent drivers’ strike. Yesterday, 8th of November, 2022, one of our members, a Mazda bus driver named Samson Adewunmi was attacked at Volks bus stop by Lagos State caretaker committee formerly known as RTEAN on his way to Mile 2, around 7 am in the morning over 500 naira illegal extortion. His windscreen was broken, he was beaten and macheted, which left two deep gashes on his head, currently in a coma at the hospital and we hope he survives it.
“This morning, Wednesday 9th of November 2022, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) arrested over 50 of our buses because of the new yellow bus policy which came to public notice three days ago. We wonder if this is part of the new transport reform or Lagos commercial drivers’ demands during the seven-day strike.
“Where will drivers suddenly get money to paint their buses amidst the current extortion and violent attacks in Lagos? Could it be that the drivers’ demands must have irked the state government so much that their first line of action is remembering an expensive law that would further increase the sufferings of drivers and commuters in Lagos?
“Without the extortion and violence, painting a bus in three days would (not) have been feasible for drivers. A sensitive government would have given three-month notice before implementing such a law that would cost drivers almost 200 thousand naira to comply with.
“We implore the Lagos state government to quickly accede to the Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria (JDWAN) demands. Arrest and publicly prosecute the violent ‘agberos’ that attack us daily, stop the extortion at every bus stop and give the poor drivers some time, at least three months’ notice to paint their buses.”
The drivers last week boycotted services across the state over alleged extortion of their members by the management of parks and garages in the state, as well as those attached to the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).
The strike was however suspended for a week after its leadership reached an agreement with the state government.