Luxury Bus Owners Grumbles Over Continuous Robbery Attacks

Luxury bus business in the country is more prevalent in the South East geopolitical zone as most of transporters are Igbo.

The bus owners who spoke to South East Voice said that in the South East and South- South zones in particular, the roads were so bad that no bus driver could embark on a two day journey and complete same within four days; if they would ever complete such journey at all.

Luxury bus owners in the country are grumbling over incessant robbery attacks of their buses along the highways saying that the fate of their 30,000 employees was now hanging in the balance as they can no longer break even, talk less of paying their salaries.

The Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria, ALBON, said that apart from the lives of their employees and passengers being threatened, their vehicles were becoming difficult to maintain as most of them had been put out of business due to security of lives and property of passengers which can no longer be guaranteed.

Popular bus transport companies like Ekene Dili Chukwu, Ifesinachi, The Young Shall Grow, G.U.O, P. N Emerah, First Tarzan, Mic Merah New Tarzan and Chiemezie are all owned by people from the geopolitical zone. 

Other foremost bus transport companies owned by Igbo include Ekeson, ABC, Izuchukwu and Chidiebere Transport Company Limited. The National Vice President of ALBON, Chief Sabastine Udemba who spoke with the South East Voice in an interview lamented how he lost one of his drivers to armed robbers just as the Managing Director of Uchenna Motors, Mr Uchenna Maduako, said that the union had lost over 10 of their drivers and several other passengers to the hoodlums since the beginning of this year.

Udemba said, “We have summoned several emergency meetings of ALBON to find solution to the armed robbery attacks which had been militating against our businesses.

The most recent attack on one of our members necessitated the recent meeting we had in Onitsha, the driver of the vehicle would have lost his life if he did not escape from the bus. “We can no longer keep quiet while our drivers and passengers are robbed and killed on daily basis.

To us this is a sabotage If the Federal Government and the governors of the states where our vehicles were waylaid or ambushed and our drivers and passengers robbed or killed are not worried, they should tell us so that we can close our companies and start other businesses. The attacks are unbearable.

“These attacks are more rampant on northern routes such as Lagos- Kano road, Morkwa and Kabba in Niger and Kogi States as well as Gwagwalada- Abuja road. Others include Ankpa- Abuja roads, Big Boy Jos Plateau state road and Kaduna -Abuja road. “Other routes where our vehicles are robbed include 9th Mille- 7 Up – Ugbokolo road, Benin Ijebu Ode road, Benin Bypass- Shagamu road, Uromi- Auchi- Abuja road, Okenne- Abuja road and Kaduna- Abuja- Bauchi road.”

Speaking further, Maduako said “we are not treated well by the government, after aviation, we are the next in transport sector that is keeping the nation moving, we are employing over 30,000 people in our offices and parks in the whole federation, if we decide to close our transport companies to do other businesses, our employees will be thrown into the unemployment market.