BRT, LAGBUS Withdraw Buses from Lagos Roads after Soldiers' Attack Yesterday

LAGBUS Asset Management Ltd., operators of BRT buses, have withdrawn its buses from Lagos roads following yesterday's attack by aggrieved soldiers.

Talking to the News Agency of Nigeria, Mr Abiodun Apata, a LAGBUS official, said the attack was unfortunate and that the luxury buses were withdrawn to avert further damage. Explaining what really happened, Apata said:

“By 10p.m. last night (2 nights ago), one of our buses broke down at Onipanu; by 11p.m., a rescue team with a van went to the scene to tow the bus. Unfortunately, `area boys’ started stoning our team which made our men to leave. Meanwhile, the driver put on hazard lights and C- Caution to alert motorists of the breakdown. 

By 5a.m. this morning, before the rescue team got to the scene, a corpse had been
deposited in our bus and a motorcycle parked behind it. When we saw it, we reported the case to the Pedro Police Station, Somolu, but before we got back to the scene, soldiers had burnt down five BRT buses and one belonging to LAGBUS.

The Head of Operations of BRT, Mr Johnson Oguntade, also told NAN that the withdrawal of BRT vehicles was to prevent more damage. He said that the deceased soldier was not hit by a BRT vehicle.

I do not still understand why we are suffering for what we never caused. Why they are burning our buses is not known” Oguntade said.

Withdrawal of the buses have left thousands of commuters stranded, crippled commercial activities on Ikorodu road. Commercial bus operators exploited the situation to increase fares by about 50 per cent. The developments also resulted in traffic gridlock. Some of the vehicles set ablaze had been towed, while the others are still at the scene as at the time of this report.