Bamise’s killing: Passengers now fight, curse us when we try to switch off light during night trips –BRT drivers

TOLA ADENUBI and LEKAN OLABULO write on the aftermath of the killing of a BRT passenger in Lagos.

FOLLOWING the outrage over the killing of 22-year-old fashion designer, Oluwabamise Ayanwola, in a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bus by the driver of the vehicle, Nice Andrew, new rules have now been issued to other drivers participating in the state government-introduced transport scheme.

A Saturday Tribune reporter observed on Thursday during a BRT night ride from Oshodi terminus to Abule Egba that unlike past practice when the light inside the buses were usually switched off while in motion, they were on throughout the journey.

The reporter boarded the bus some minutes past 8.00 p.m. from the Oshodi terminus and instead of the lights being switched off as was the practice except at bus stops where the lights were switched on, the lights were on throughout the trip.

A similar situation was witnessed in other buses, prompting the Saturday Tribune reporter to check with the driver of the bus he boarded.

According to the driver, keeping the inner light on was a new directive from the management; that lights must not be switched off during evening or night trips anymore.

He also confirmed that the new directive was triggered by passengers’ protest.

He said: “After the death of Miss Oluwabamise Ayanwole, most passengers on our BRT buses in the evening started resisting the idea of lights being switched off. If we try to switch off the lights, they will start shouting and cursing. So, we complained to our management and they gave a directive that henceforth, inner lights of the BRT buses should remain on all through evening and night journeys.”

Apart from the new policy on inner light, passengers are also now protesting the usual practice of BRT buses veering off their marked corridors to beat traffic gridlocks, for which Lagos is known.

Security expert and journalist, Ms. Juliana Francis, was also an eyewitness to wild reactions when a BRT driver wanted to make a detour.

“Just yesterday (Wednesday), the driver of a BRT bus heading from Lagos Island to Iyano-Ipaja decided to detour from the usual route in order to cut off traffic but the passengers all suddenly started shouting at him, asking with hostility where he was taking them. This taking of routes to cut off traffic is a usual practice among commercial drivers but these passengers were no longer going to accept that. That slender thread of trust has cut,” she disclosed.

In the bus boarded by Saturday Tribune’s reporter and other BRT users engaged by this newspaper, passengers were unanimous about not trusting BRT drivers and just like Juliana observed, the trust issue is going to have major implications for the scheme, drivers and passengers.

Ms. Francis called for a thorough investigation into the killing of Bamise, whose alleged killer was charged to court on Friday, noting that the outcome of the investigation might expose past similar criminal activities perpetrated with BRT buses and other government-funded transportation schemes, which are not always scrutinised like privately owned vehicles.

She said: “The incident (Bamise’s killing) has made many Nigerians, especially passengers that board BRT buses, to become alert and vigilant. It was a tragic incident that caused panic in the public space and further caused parents to start dishing out warnings and advice to their children.

“Secondly, the incident will continue to make passengers suspicious of BRT buses and their drivers. This is profound, if you take into account that we are in a country where there is trust deficit.

“This also means that the lives of the BRT drivers are not safe because some of them may start arguing and proving difficult rather than explaining why they are taking a detour. This can cause passengers to pounce on them.”

Saturday Tribune learnt in the course of engaging with members of the public that BRT drivers have not been behaving well towards their passengers. While they have been tolerated so far, the recent event, as pointed out by Francis, may trigger sharp reactions from passengers of unruly drivers.

‘How to keep safe in Lagos’

Since the Bamise incident, several security tips on how to survive the increasingly dangerous Lagos terrain have gone viral. One of them, which Saturday Tribune has not independently confirmed with automotive experts, teaches on how to stop a moving BRT bus if there is a reasonable suspicion the driver is being funny.

It reads: “If you find yourself inside any BRT bus and you feel unsafe, kindly be on the lookout for the emergency exit sign. It’s a red latch. You have to pull it. It will activate the bus emergency brakes. After pulling the red latch, that bus isn’t going anywhere.”

Ms. Francis also gave her tips. She said: “On the heels of what happened to Bamise, I suggest that people, everyone, irrespective of age and gender, should cultivate the habit of telling someone where they are heading to. If you have to take different buses to get to the final destination, always keep in touch with one or two persons, telling them where you are and the bus you have just boarded. And when you get to your destination, also let them know.

“Whenever I lodge in a hotel, I always send the room number to my family’s platform and then I will snap different corners of the room and send them to them.  You just never can tell. We should always be suspicious and proactive. Being a crime reporter – and because I have covered many traumatic incidents – has made me become paranoid. People should not take the attitude of ‘it can never happen to me’. Tragic incidents can happen to anyone.

“Tragic incidents can happen to anyone, irrespective of gender or status. If a thorough and in-depth investigation is carried out on Bamise’s murder, you may be surprised to find out that using BRT to get prey for whatever sorts of fetish murders has been going on for years.

“Again, it is always safe to board commercial buses, whether BRT or otherwise, at their terminals or parks. If you want to board a BRT along the road and you are alone, just be watchful. If the passengers are few, better not board. This is because BRT buses charge low fare and passengers are always scrambling for it. So, why shouldn’t it be full of passengers?

“Passengers should not fail to challenge commercial drivers if they are suspicious of them or if they are speeding. Their lives are at stake. There should be a toll-free phone number pasted on BRT buses for passengers to send messages or call if they are worried or suspicious of any driver or if the driver is being rude or speeding. We should also not fail to realise that commercial minibuses are being used to kidnap people. It is happening a lot at the Lekki-Ajah axis.

“So, the scrutinising and investigation shouldn’t be only BRT buses but all commercial buses. Even private car owners who use their cars as commercial are also kidnapping unsuspecting passengers.

“The government and police should synergise on further securing the lives of passengers. There should be a toll-free phone for distress calls or sending a message during crisis. If Bamise had sent a message to such a phone line and it had led to patrolling RRS cyclists trailing the bus or patrolling the axis, maybe she would be alive today and we wouldn’t be discussing semantics.”

Reinforcing the need to further have drivers under control, Ms. Francis suggested that the state government “should have biometrics data of every commercial driver in their states and the buses should have trackers. Also, CCTV should be installed in BRT buses and at strategic parts of metropolitan states across Nigeria. The CCTV should be permanently on and there should be a unit or agency monitoring them.

“Our governments can do these things, but corruption and diversion of public funds continue to be our major challenge. To avoid further occurrences, a law enforcement agent, police/civil defense should constitute a joint task force to work with BRT buses, their special allowances should be taken care of by the private owners of these BRT buses. This means that one operative attached to a bus. If not, then an official of the BRT company should always be with the bus driver.

“There should be strict adherence to the resumption and closing time of BRT bus drivers. The drivers should clock in and out on a designated register or computer,” she stated.

Unruly, uncouth

A Saturday Tribune reporter had a firsthand experience of how BRT drivers relate with their passengers.

Narrating his experience, he said: “We boarded a BRT bus from Obalende to Abule-Egba. After the bus left the Third Mainland Bridge, there was heavy traffic along the Ikeja Along axis of Agege Motor Road, so the driver tried to beat the traffic by linking up with Oba Akran Road in Ikeja and passing through Guinness junction on to Capitol Road end of Agege.

“The idea was to link the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway through the Ile-Zik Roundabout by coming in from Capitol Road end of the Agege Motor Road. However, some passengers, including an elderly man, warned the driver that Oba Akran is usually heavy with traffic during evening rush hours, that he should navigate inside Ikeja to beat the traffic around the Computer Village axis of the Oba Akran Road.

“The driver refused and went straight down Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way in Ikeja, hoping to join Oba Akran Road. The traffic was indeed heavy as motorists trying to connect Agege motor road via the overhead bridge at LASUTH Roundabout, were locked in a traffic battle with motorists that wanted to connect Oba Akran road.

“The traffic had stretched to Etiebet’s House along Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, and the passengers started chiding the driver for not listening to advice. The driver returned insults for insult and a heated verbal exchange ensued between the BRT driver and an elderly passenger and the BRT driver threatened to beat up the elderly man if he would not stop abusing him.

“It took the intervention of other passengers before the heated exchange of words, stopped.”

The experiences of others aren’t too different.

A BRT user, Kunle Awosiyan, while speaking on his experience in BRT buses, said: “I think it is time for government to introduce boarding pass to BRT as it is done at airports. Reason being that BRT can easily be used to move anything since it is not being checked on the road by the police or LASTMA officials.

“It will surprise you that some BRT drivers behave more like touts than professionals. They use gutter language and would not mind exchanging punches with passengers. In the buses are charging points, almost all have been vandalised. Hardly will you see a BRT bus that has its charging points complete. It was gathered that these were removed and sold by either the drivers themselves or their agents.

“So, if your phone is down, you cannot charge and make a call in case there is any need to do so. No passenger can easily remove the charging point if he or she has no backing of the driver who is the captain of the bus.”

Another BRT user, Glory, said that she had experienced different unpleasant experiences with the government vehicles and their drivers and advised the operators to ensure that the drivers are “more responsible”.

She claimed to have narrowly escaped being injured in an accident involving BRT and blamed it on insensitivity of the driver. She accused many of the drivers of stealing and over-speeding.

Glory said: “There was a day we were almost thrown into the Lagoon on the Third Mainland Bridge. The vehicle was on a high speed when suddenly one of the tyres detached. The driver had to lean on the side of the road and managed the vehicle until it halted. We discovered that the wheel nuts were not complete and that the driver was only managing it like that.

“Many of them (drivers) are also very unruly and not open to correction. They don’t listen to advice and often abuse passengers who complain about anything. They feel that they are the alpha and omega of the buses and that whatever decision they take is final.”

She also recalled a time a passenger left her goods in one of the buses in Marina. She claimed that “a woman had notified us of a pair of female shoes that was left in the bus, maybe by a passenger. We informed the driver with the intention that he would give it to the management so that the owner could pick it in their office.

“Instead of the driver to make any attempt to hand over the shoes to the bus operators, he was concerned about the size and whom to give. We were all disappointed at his attitude.”

Police speak

The spokesman of the state police command, Adekunle Ajisebutu, while reacting to insinuations of past cases of kidnapping using the BRT buses, said: “We don’t have any reported case of kidnapping. People with complaints should formerly lodge their complaints with us.”

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…Gowon tasks FG  Gowon tasks FG

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…Gowon tasks FG  Gowon tasks FG