By Tajudeen Adebanjo
There was Drama on Wednesday at the Ojota axis of Lagos when the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lagos State Council, Musiliu Akinsanya (aka MC Oluomo) accosted a ‘policeman’ driving an overloaded commercial bus.
Akinsanya had gone out with some members of his executive to motor parks to enforce the Lagos State Government’s guidelines for commercial bus operators.
He lamented the insensitivity of the officer to the well-being of the passengers.
According to Akinsanya, the officer was expected to enforce the government’s directive instead of flouting it.
Commissioner for Transportation Dr Frederic Oladeinde had directed bus operators to reduce their passengers to 60 per cent capacity on Monday and ensure they have temperature readers to test passengers before boarding among others.
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Akinsanya visited parks at Ojota, Odo Iya Alaro, New Garage, Mile 12 and monitor busses on the Ikorodu Road.
At the garages, he distributed face masks to all passengers and implored operators of those parks to provide hand sanitisers and hand wash basins.
He stopped buses on the Ikorodu Road to enforce two passengers on a row and one at the front seat order.
He ordered the conductor to refund bus fares of those forced to disembark and appealed to them to board other buses.
The NURTW boss urged leaders in the park to provide masks for all passengers.
He warned them against increasing the fare due to the adjustment.
“We must play our own role to mitigate the effect of the Coronavirus. You must not carry more than two passengers on a row and one person beside the driver. You should also get the temperature reader to test each passenger before boarding the bus. These are ways to contribute our quota to contain the Coronavirus,” he said.
Akinsanya, who demonstrated how to use the temperature reader on some passengers, directed the drivers and conductors to always wear hand gloves and nose guides while in transit.
According to him, passengers are also required to sanitize themselves before and after each trip
Passengers, he added, are also required to regularly wash their hands with soap and running water before and after each trip.
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