Tough times for commuters as there are fewer bus stops in Abuja

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), told Sunday Trust that there are so many illegal bus stops and motor parks in Abuja and they will be making sure that vehicles will only discharge and pick passengers at designated bus stops. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Sector Commander of the FRSC, Mr Charles Nseobong Akpabio, said […]

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), told Sunday Trust that there are so many illegal bus stops and motor parks in Abuja and they will be making sure that vehicles will only discharge and pick passengers at designated bus stops.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Sector Commander of the FRSC, Mr Charles Nseobong Akpabio, said bus stops are temporary places where vehicles are expected to discharge, pick passengers and move. “When you turn such a bus stop into a motor park, it becomes illegal,” he said.

He said commercial vehicles are not supposed to stay at a bus stop and solicit passengers the way they do. He stressed that this has been what has been causing traffic congestion in the city.

“Berger will remain a bus stop but not a motor park—where they can discharge and go away—there are places left and right where they can stop by, discharge, pick a passenger and move away. It is not for them to position vehicles there call, and wait for passengers. It is wrong. There is a motor park at Jabi for now. There are three big motor parks at Jabi which can be used,” he said.

But this arrangement appears to be making life hard for commuters as bus drivers are afraid of discharging them at bus stops where they used to alight. At what used to be Bullet bus stop yesterday morning, a commercial driver was arrested by a patrol team from the Central Police Station, Wuse, for discharging passengers there. Among the passengers was a policeman, who had to spend time pleading with his colleagues before the bus was released.

When asked why it was wrong for the bus driver to discharge passengers at a place that has been a bus stop all these years, the leader of the patrol team, an inspector of police, said the bus stop is illegal.

A lot of commuters were seen stranded at many places as law enforcement agents were on hand to arrest and impound buses that would stop and pick the passengers. Chris Obinna was one of the stranded passengers and he said while it was a welcome idea to maintain law and order, yet, that there should be structures in place before laws can be effectively enforced. According to him, “You can’t just say no bus should stop here or there to discharge and pick passengers. You should first of all provide bus stops at the right places before such a law can come into effect and actually make sense to the public.”

He said as it is now, commuters will have to trek long distances to the few bus stops where buses are allowed to pick passengers, before they can board buses to their destinations.

“I think that whenever a responsible government is making law, it first of all looks at how that any law will affect its citizens. But here, the government wakes up everyday with all kinds of laws that would rather cause hardships to common citizens. Now, it is the poor commuters who do not own cars and depend on public transportation who will suffer. We should be able to see the government working for the good of the people and not against the people,” Obinna said.

For James Eze, a commercial bus driver, “it is another avenue where law enforcement agents will utilise to harass and extort money from us. We are ready to work within the confines of the law but when you have already made it impossible for us to obey the law, then you are making us vulnerable to harassment and exploitation.”

But Akpabio said the law enforcement agencies do not create bus stops or motor parks. “We only make recommendations where necessary to authorities concerned, to enhance free flow of traffic and guarantee safety of the roads,” he said.

“Where we have bus stops everywhere, that can create nuisance to society and can cause accidents and a degradation of the environment,” he said.

He said so far, over 100 vehicles have been impounded and they will ensure that everybody works within the ambit of the law.