Night travel may be fraught with a lot of dangers in Nigeria as highways are not in good condition and robbers use the bad state of the roads as an opportunity to ambush inter-state commercial vehicles.
But in spite of these inherent dangers, there seems to be no reduction in the number of people who choose to go on night journeys. What is the motive of some who travel at night in luxurious buses? Find out below...
Investigation by Punch's Ademola Olonilua showed that attraction of some of the passengers to the night travel was more bizarre as much as it was almost unbelievable. When Punch visited some parks to investigate, it found out passengers preferred night travels for different reasons.
At Jibowu, an area of Lagos where luxury buses load passengers to the Eastern part of the country, Chidioke Ekezie, a motorboy attached to a bus of one of the popular transport operators in Lagos, gave an insight into life on night buses, which he explained could be very vibrant and “interesting” as a result of the duration of the journeys.
“There has never been a time that those taking night journey reduced. The thing is that a lot of people just like travelling at that time simply because it is traffic-free,” Ekezie said.
Asked to elaborate on the “interesting” part of the journey, which he had earlier mentioned, the motorboy said, “A lot of people make new friends and many young people who board the buses as strangers become couples during the journey.”
When asked whether there is any sexual activity during these journeys, Ekezie smiled mischievously and said:
“Night buses are interesting. A lot of things happen there,” he declared, when our correspondent had a chat with him on why he favoured night travel that much. A lot of things like what?
He went into a narration. “There was a time I went to Yenagoa (Bayelsa State capital) in 2005. I boarded the bus at Mazamaza and got a seat beside a fair lady who was also going to Bayelsa. The journey was at least seven hours and we took off around 6pm.
“I had been chatting with the lady since we left Lagos. About four hours into the journey, she yawned and said she was sleepy. She rested her head on my shoulder and there was no way she could be comfortable if my arm did not go around her shoulders.
“My arm brushed her breast mistakenly and she did nothing. It turned out that by her body language as the journey went on, she wanted something. I had heard about such things happening on buses but I did not immediately understand her intention.
“She later made it clear when her hand went to my zippers.”
Chukwueloka laughed as he narrated this unusual escapade. He said he would never forget it for the rest of his life. “I just wanted to experience it. She sat on my lap and other passengers were asleep in the bus. It was also dark,” he said.
Having a sexual encounter with a complete stranger may be a no-no for many people but Chukwueloka told Punch that he used protection. (How true? was he going on a journey with a condom?)
At Oshodi, another lady narrated a funny story that her aunty told her. She said, “My aunty boarded a luxury bus from Jibowu. The last bus stop was at Aba and a man came out of the bus complaining that his wallet, his wrist watch and the handbag containing his laptop had been stolen. My aunty said when the young man explained what happened, every other passenger of the bus made jest of him.
"What happened was that when all other passengers in the bus were asleep, he made sexual advances at the lady he sat with. They started fondling each other even though they were strangers when they boarded the bus. The lady later offered that the man should suck her breast. The lady must have rubbed a sleeping portion on her breast because the man slept off afterwards.
“The lady stole all his belongings and disembarked from the bus before it got to the last bus stop.”
But in spite of these inherent dangers, there seems to be no reduction in the number of people who choose to go on night journeys. What is the motive of some who travel at night in luxurious buses? Find out below...
Investigation by Punch's Ademola Olonilua showed that attraction of some of the passengers to the night travel was more bizarre as much as it was almost unbelievable. When Punch visited some parks to investigate, it found out passengers preferred night travels for different reasons.
At Jibowu, an area of Lagos where luxury buses load passengers to the Eastern part of the country, Chidioke Ekezie, a motorboy attached to a bus of one of the popular transport operators in Lagos, gave an insight into life on night buses, which he explained could be very vibrant and “interesting” as a result of the duration of the journeys.
“There has never been a time that those taking night journey reduced. The thing is that a lot of people just like travelling at that time simply because it is traffic-free,” Ekezie said.
Asked to elaborate on the “interesting” part of the journey, which he had earlier mentioned, the motorboy said, “A lot of people make new friends and many young people who board the buses as strangers become couples during the journey.”
When asked whether there is any sexual activity during these journeys, Ekezie smiled mischievously and said:
“It is a known fact that it happens. Some people are just quite stupid. Most couples wait till we get to our designated bus stops to have sex.
“For instance, on a journey from Onitsha to Lagos, the bus sometimes leaves at about 10pm and later stops at Benin so that the passengers can stretch their legs, buy refreshments and ease themselves. This takes a long time.
“I have seen a lot of passengers get down and go around a corner to have sex. It happens. I have also seen some passengers have sex in the bus while others are off the bus. When this happens, it is a problem for the man and woman involved. We don’t condone such acts in the bus.
“We could decide to drop the involved passengers there and leave because it is very silly for people to have sex in the bus.”A 23yrs old student, who preferred to give just his first name, Chukwueloka, was booked on one of the luxury buses to his home state of Imo, when our correspondent visited the park. He said he always took night buses anytime he went home.
“Night buses are interesting. A lot of things happen there,” he declared, when our correspondent had a chat with him on why he favoured night travel that much. A lot of things like what?
He went into a narration. “There was a time I went to Yenagoa (Bayelsa State capital) in 2005. I boarded the bus at Mazamaza and got a seat beside a fair lady who was also going to Bayelsa. The journey was at least seven hours and we took off around 6pm.
“I had been chatting with the lady since we left Lagos. About four hours into the journey, she yawned and said she was sleepy. She rested her head on my shoulder and there was no way she could be comfortable if my arm did not go around her shoulders.
“My arm brushed her breast mistakenly and she did nothing. It turned out that by her body language as the journey went on, she wanted something. I had heard about such things happening on buses but I did not immediately understand her intention.
“She later made it clear when her hand went to my zippers.”
Chukwueloka laughed as he narrated this unusual escapade. He said he would never forget it for the rest of his life. “I just wanted to experience it. She sat on my lap and other passengers were asleep in the bus. It was also dark,” he said.
Having a sexual encounter with a complete stranger may be a no-no for many people but Chukwueloka told Punch that he used protection. (How true? was he going on a journey with a condom?)
At Oshodi, another lady narrated a funny story that her aunty told her. She said, “My aunty boarded a luxury bus from Jibowu. The last bus stop was at Aba and a man came out of the bus complaining that his wallet, his wrist watch and the handbag containing his laptop had been stolen. My aunty said when the young man explained what happened, every other passenger of the bus made jest of him.
"What happened was that when all other passengers in the bus were asleep, he made sexual advances at the lady he sat with. They started fondling each other even though they were strangers when they boarded the bus. The lady later offered that the man should suck her breast. The lady must have rubbed a sleeping portion on her breast because the man slept off afterwards.
“The lady stole all his belongings and disembarked from the bus before it got to the last bus stop.”
