This development came following the alleged murder of three members of the union in Port Harcourt and another member in Galadimawa, Abuja on Wednesday.
According to a statement by the union on Thursday, the incident in the Port Harcourt metropolis involved three of its members working on the Bolt app, in what appeared to be coordinated attacks between the hours of 7.30 pm to 10 pm on the same day.
The union said the attack that led to the death of a driver, Emmanual Daniel, came as he was driving to a pickup location where he was attacked after receiving a call from the passenger.
It added that Daniel was murdered while his killers snatched away his vehicle.
“Also Roland Asuru and John Okon were both shot dead while their cars were snatched by suspected robbers. There were reportedly failed attempts to snatch members’ cars at GRA, CFC Roundabout, and Ekeme, according to the statement
“Another brutal killing and car snatching of a member in Abuja was reported at the Galadimawa area of Abuja on Wednesday,” the statement read.
The union, while reacting to the recent killings of its members said that it is pathetic and unacceptable that within two days, app-based transporters of Nigeria lost four of its members and seven cars in the course of carrying out essential service to members of the public due to inadequate security measures and intelligence to avert the plans of these deadly attacks.
The statement continued, “The union has been making a call on the app companies as part of a measure to prevent security breaches to profile riders adequately by making means of national ID a prerequisite for all passengers before they can board or take a rider on the app but they have been very adamant and watches our members die a preventable death even without justice and compensation.
“As a registered trade union with the responsibility to protect our members against preventable circumstances like this, we are making a call on the Federal Government as a matter of urgency to direct the Ministry of Transport, Science, and Digital Economy or any relevant Ministry to direct these app-based companies to capture the NIN of the passengers before ordering a ride.
“We are also calling the Governor of River State, FCT Minister, and the police to facilitate investigation and bring these deadly killers to book while we the family of the deceased are compensated adequately by the government and app-company.
“We sympathise with these families and also call on our members to be security conscious at all times as we approve the festive season of the year.”
When contacted, the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, did not respond to phone calls as at the time of filing this report.
