Commuters resort to trekking as Lagos bus drivers continue protest

Commuter bus drivers on Monday staged another protest in the Ikorodu axis of Lagos State over alleged extortion by the state task force and traffic managers.

Many commuters were stranded at several bus stops on the route as the commercial bus operators parked their vehicles.

They accused men of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) of extortion and frustrating their business operation.

Many commuters, especially those going to Jibowu, Maryland and Ikeja had to trek long distances on Monday morning.

The angry drivers said they were protesting the daily harassment, seizure of their vehicles and extortion by officials of Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit and LASTMA.

The bus drivers last week staged a similar protest along Oshodi-Apapa expressway and virtually grounded movement by public transportation for many hours as they forced the no-work order compliance and molested drivers and passengers of few vehicles found disobeying the directive.

Two weeks ago, the protect had taken place along Ikotun-Igando area of the state.

The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “End LASTMA brutality” “End Task force wahala”, “End LASTMA blocking, blocking with Taskforce” and “End Task force in Lagos State”.

The alleged that the task force officials routinely and indiscriminately seize their vehicles and make them pay a huge amount before releasing the vehicles.