Keep up with the latest news and be part of our weekly giveaways and airtime sharing; follow our WhatsApp channel for more updates. Click to Follow us

The demonstration, which caused a complete traffic halt, broke out after frustrated drivers asserted that they had been told to cease operations of their korope buses completely and to switch to a new set of vehicles purportedly introduced by individuals linked to the president’s son.

Commercial drivers of small buses known as “korope” protested along the Ajiwe axis heading to Victoria Garden City (VGC), Ajah, Lagos State. This demonstration was sparked by claims that they were being coerced into abandoning their current vehicles in favor of newly acquired buses purportedly connected to Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Tinubu.

The demonstration, which caused a complete traffic halt, broke out after frustrated drivers asserted that they had been told to cease operations of their korope buses completely and to switch to a new set of vehicles purportedly introduced by individuals linked to the president’s son.

Affected drivers and operators, during the protest, spoke to SaharaReporters about the situation, calling it unjust and burdensome—particularly for those who had already obtained their buses via long-term payment arrangements and were nearing completion of their payments or had fully paid.

As per the accounts of various eyewitnesses, the drivers were not just barred from using specific routes or moving to different locations; they were reportedly prohibited from working entirely.

“They didn’t stop us from moving from one place to another,” one eyewitness told SaharaReporters. “They stopped us from working entirely. They told us we should not use korope again.”

The operators affected stated that they had been given explicit instructions to cease using their existing korope buses due to the introduction of another set of similar vehicles in the area.

No official statement has identified the person responsible for the newly introduced buses, but several drivers have claimed that Seyi Tinubu was behind their arrival.

“They didn’t mention names openly,” one driver said. “But everybody here knows that the buses are allegedly from Seyi Tinubu. That’s what we were told.”

In light of this development, the drivers expressed that they were compelled to forsake the buses they had already obtained and to instead collect the newly introduced korope vehicles under new purchase conditions that were reportedly associated with Seyi Tinubu.

The drivers maintained that the directive was unreasonable, pointing out that many of them had made significant investments in their current buses and had organized their livelihoods around those buses.

“This is not fair to us at all,” one operator said. “Some of us have almost finished paying for our buses. Some of us have fully paid. We are already making sales and operating independently.”

One operator, expressing strong feelings, recounted that he had personally collected a bus through a hire-purchase agreement and had fully settled its cost prior to the most recent directive.

“I finished paying for my bus,” he said. “So why should anybody now come and tell me to leave my own vehicle and start buying another one?”

He challenged the reasoning behind the action, labeling it as exploitative and unfair.

“Who does that?” he asked angrily. “There’s no way anyone would agree to that. You can’t tell someone who has finished paying for his bus to abandon it and start afresh.”

He stated that the protest was sparked by frustration and a feeling of injustice, which also resulted in the decision to obstruct the road.

As of Wednesday morning, traffic along the Ajiwe–VGC corridor was greatly interrupted.

An eyewitness who passed through the area reported that demonstrators had taken over the road, resulting in a lockdown of the entire route and halting all commercial and private activities.

Please don’t forget to “Allow the notification” so you will be the first to get our gist when we publish it. 
Drop your comment in the section below, and don’t forget to share the post.