Miss Peju Pedro, a 300-level student at the University of Lagos, has stated that following the unfortunate death of 22year old fashion designer, Bamise Ayanwole, in a Bus Rapid Transit vehicle lately, she will be continually terrified of rape and death when utilizing the transportation company’s cars.
The designer was on her way to visit her brother after work on February 26 when she boarded the BRT vehicle at Chevron Bus Stop, which resulted in her terrible death, according to the report.
“Taking BRT at night is now more terrifying because I’m terrified of being raped or dying” said Pedro, who also told reporters that the government should make it safer.
Pedro, who spoke at the BRT Terminal in Alausa, across from ShopRite Superstores, urged the Lagos State Government to enlist the support of the private sector inefficiently regulating BRT operations.
Aside from Pedro, some BRT riders along Lagos’ Ikeja/Oshodi corridor have also urged the government to strengthen bus security for commuters’ safety.
To avoid a repeat of the Bamise saga, some of the passengers who talked with the media urged the state government to use technology to improve and safer the operations for passengers.
The BRT, said Okwudili, a trader at Computer Village, is the hope of business people who have to catch up on business appointments early.
Okwudili, who talked to a reporter at the Mangoro bus corridor, said the growing BRT fleet was outstanding, but that government operations should be improved and digitalised for efficiency and safety.
“Because the government has banned commercial motorbikes (Okada) on highways, BRT is the fastest mode of transportation available to us, particularly for business people.”
“When you travel to other nations, you will notice that there are no traffic jams because the government has put large, high-capacity buses everywhere.”
“Following Bamise’s tragedy, all transportation stakeholders should consider how to make BRT safer. Internationally, transportation is a major business, and I believe Gov. Sanwo-Olu can handle it,” he remarked.
Master Joseph Kushima, a pupil at Agidingbi Junior High School, told reporters that the bus was helping to transport students to school for free.
“We appreciate BRT; they should not stop it,” he added, adding that “if there is security, no driver can murder anyone.”
Story: Ralia Adama