Abuja: A capital city without mass transport scheme 19 years after
It was the talk of the town in 2005 when the administration rolled out 400 brand new buses under the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company ( AUMTC). Almost two decades after, the vehicles have disappeared from the metropolise, and in their place is a rash of private operators and horde of criminal elements alike,
RESIDENTS
of the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) have blamed the surge in the activities of taxicab robbers, popularly known as ‘ one chance’, on the failure to make a success of the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company ( AUMTC), which ran aground, over 400 buses procured in 2005 for mass transit.
Apart from the victims losing valuables to these dare- devil robbers, some residents have sustained severe injuries from being pushed out fast- moving vehicles. Deaths have also been reported from their activities.
Some residents, who narrated their ordeals in the hands of criminals, believed that a functional mass transport system would have put paid to the plight of the victims, or reasonably address the situation.
A resident, Mrs Ify Nwankwor, said her ability to think fast saved her from the claws of death after she boarded a cab around the Wuse Zone 4 area of the city centre. According to her, since it was close to Bureau de Change stands, the driver thought she must have made some foreign exchange transactions.
“So, immediately I entered the cab, he zoomed off on a high speed. When I sensed danger, I shouted at him to drop me off, but he continued speeding. I had a pair of black trousers, black shirt and a pair of canvas. So, my spirit told me to act like a force woman. I put my hand in my purse, pretending to be clutching on a pistol while threatening to blow his head off if he didn’t stop the car immediately.
“I acted brave and fearless like a military woman and immediately he stopped the car, I jumped out and he sped off. I don’t know what would have happened to me that day had it been that I didn’t act smart,” she said. Nwankwor decried the lack of effective urban mass transit that can make movements cheap and safe, wondering what has become of the mass transit buses meant for the city.
“Why should the buses be parked while residents patronise cabs? If they are effectively operated, residents would have had a lot of options. Currently, it is privately- owned cabs that take people from point A to point B. Unfortunately, some of them are operated by criminals.
“The problem with Nigeria is that instead of increasing what we have, they keep reducing until they are no more. Poor maintenance culture is one of our problems,” she added.
Like Nwankwor, Felicia Mathew, a journalist with one of the media outfits in Abuja, boarded a Lexus Saloon car after a bargain.
Mathew said: “On our way, the driver started a friendly conversation, saying that I looked like a Hausa lady, but I responded in the negative. He also asked if I was a lawyer and again, I responded negatively.
“While we were having this friendly conversation, I noticed he was winding up his car windows which were tinted black. I also noticed that he passed my destination and I quickly drew his attention to that and he apologised. “Suddenly, he told me to come down that he was no longer going. As I alighted from the car, he pleaded for my phone to make a call as his iphone’s battery was down. Immediately I gave my phone to him, he drove off, and told me from the window that I was lucky.
“By the time I checked the back of the car, it had no number plate. One chance victims are on the rise in Abuja, and the incidence is a regular occurrence in the FCT. Unfortunately, their ways of operation makes it difficult for the police to track them.
“If there is an effective transport system, not these ones operated by private individuals, I believe the incidents would reduce. Most people will even prefer the mass transit buses if they are well maintained and operate within the city centre,” Mathew said.
Another victim of the one chance syndicate, Hosanna Offorma, said that the Central Area, Nyanya, Kuje, and Kaduna Road constitute red spots for the criminals.
“Unfortunately, these axis are designated for the big buses, but their non- availability has kept this nefarioius business thriving for long, especially as there are no active checkpoints around these areas. December 2022 remains a horrible day in my memory, as I and my friend boarded a vehicle from Kubwa Satellite Town heading to the airport. We boarded the vehicle because we saw women onboard without knowing that they were men disguised as women.
“Everything was calm until we got to a point where the streetlights were bad; then, these men pointed daggers at us, collected all our gadgets and pushed us out of the vehicle. We couldn’t make that journey again,” Offorma said.
“It is risky to move around Abuja in private cars or taxis these days; it doesn’t matter whether they are painted taxi colours or not because one chance syndicates also use painted Abuja taxis to rob people. The permanent solution is effective inter- city transport system.”
Mr Titus Idara was attacked around the popular Banex area on his way from his shop where he repairs mobile phones. He boarded a car believed to be going to Kagini, an outskirt of the town.
“It is very dangerous to enter a vehicle with tinted glasses, but I was too tired to check. I only found out minutes after the driver took off. I felt someone’s hand in my pocket and when I tried to defend myself, the person sitting close to me brought out a pistol. I was dispossessed of my phones and then, pushed out of the car.
“It was a traumatic experience. One chance vehicles are all over Abuja. I have a friend who is currently nursing a severe internal injury due to one chance attack,” Idara said.
It will be recalled that the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company ( AUMTC) commenced the urban mass transport programme some 19 years ago, with over N1.3 billion committed to the procurement of over 400 high- capacity buses for designated routes in the FCT, including Abuja to Mararaba, Abuja to Bwari, Abuja to Kuje, Abuja to Gwagwalada and Abuja Suleja respectively.
Because it was during the tenure of Nasir el’rufai, as the FCT Minister, the buses were named El’rufai buses.
Abuja residents welcomed the luxurious 49seater buses with excitement. It was the new face of FCT mass movement then. Although it was considered slow in movement as it had to
Why should the buses be parked while residents patronise cabs? If they are effectively operated, residents would have had a lot of options. Currently, it is privately- owned cabs that take people from point A to point B. Unfortunately, some of them are operated by criminals. The problem with Nigeria is that instead of increasing what we have, they keep reducing until they are no more. Poor maintenance culture is one of our problems
stop at every bus- stop, it was cheaper and perceived safer for commuters. It drastically reduced patronage of short buses and private cars.
It also brought sanity into the city and the reckless danfo were consequently barred from operating in the city.
But the buses started depreciating after a while and gradually, they began to withdraw from their designated routes and were patronised mainly by big churches whose members live in various parts of the FCT for Sunday services. Currently, only few, unattractive buses are in operation, while the rest are abandoned in a park along Kubwa Expressway.
It was reported that four out of every 10 persons in the FCT, four might have fallen victims of one chance syndicates. While some victims report the incidents to the police, others feel it was a waste of time and resources since the offenders are rarely apprehended.
The Public Relations Officer, FCT Command, SP Josephine Adeh, could neither speak on the issue, nor reveal the number of such cases reported to the command in the past two years for fear of “creating fear in the residents.”
But the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Benneth C. Igweh, while recently briefing the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, during a courtesy visit, disclosed how some members of one chance syndicates were trailed to the Central Area and on their arrest, they confessed to using toy guns and knives to scare their victims and illegally, obtain from them. Apparently to bridge the gap, the FCT administration in February, introduced what it called “Transport for All” project with the arrival of the first set of 15 air conditioned and Wi- Fi fitted buses.
The Private- Public Partnership project designed a digital payment solution as a way to curb fraud.
According to Wike, the new buses and taxis would soon be rolled out for public transport in the city and will definitely address incidences of ‘ one chance’ operators.
“I assure you that once the buses and taxis are on the roads, the problem of one chance will be a thing of the past. However, if you can make the mistake of going to enter a taxi, and a bus that is not our own, it is your problem.”
Interestingly, these buses and taxis are designated for the high- profile parts of the city such as Maitama and Asokoro. Also, with the new transport system in place, it is not certain what becomes of the large number of old buses condemned to rot away in spite ofthe huge amount committed to the project.