NURTW denies operating ‘One-Chance’ bus

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

The Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Lagos State Council yesterday denied operating a “One-Chance” bus seen in a viral video.

The incident involving a driver and six passengers occurred along the Ibadan corridor of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on June 30. The driver, it was learnt, picked up the passengers from the Ojota Garage in Lagos and was heading to Warri, Delta State.

As the journey progressed, some of the passengers fell asleep while others stayed awake. The passengers who remained alert saved the rest from what would have turned out to be kidnapping case.

According to them, they found themselves in Ibadan and raised the alarm.

State Secretary of the union Oluwaseyi Bankole dissociated the union from the incident.

Bankole said the bus diver is not known to the union, and did not take off from the park operated by the union.

Corroborating Bankole’s statement, Chairman, Kosofe Branch ‘A’, Ojota Biode Motor Park, Michael Ajilo Odugunle said the bus took off at a private park.

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Odugunle said: “It is not a park under union; the bus in question was boarded in a private garage. We don’t have control over private parks because they get the permit from the state. We want the public to know that it’s not union-owned garage that they boarded the bus, it’s a private park.

“We will have to meet with the operators of the private parks and iron it out. The incident came to us as a surprise; such has never happened before in any of the union-owned parks.”

Chairman of Ojota Branch, Odo Iya Alaro (section) Comrade Ifeoluwa Adenusi expressed shock over the incident.

He advised people to always patronise NURTW-owned garages as it is safer because both drivers’ and passengers’ data are collected before departure from the garage.