Many Nigerians embark on night journeys for various reasons: Some believe it is more convenient because there is considerably less traffic. Whatever the reason, the associated risks involved have proved to be dangerous and not worth risking ones life for. VICTORIA OZOHU MAYAKI in this report writes.
“The hoodlums ordered us out of the bus and forced us to lie down, facing the ground. They disposed us of our valuables, including cash and handsets.
“While we were being searched one after the other, two luxury buses approached the scene of the incident. But rather than stopping as ordered by the robbers, the drivers of the buses increased their speed, which resulted in the unfortunate crushing of some of the other passengers who were lying down on the highway.
“One of the buses ran over me in a middle position, while the second one crushed one of my legs.”
This was the testimony of Mr. Joshua Chucks, one of the survivors of the August 2, 2011 robbery attack that claimed the lives of not less than 50 persons along the Lokoja-Abuja Expressway. Chucks might have been one of the lucky ones to have survived that terrible incident, others weren’t that lucky. Perhaps if they had survived, they would have vowed never to travel at night.
Night trips, a common form of travelling by many commuters especially businessmen, has been associated with so many risks. Aside the unavoidable chance of having the driver fall asleep while driving which could surely result in an accident, robbers see it as a perfect avenue for them to dispose unsuspecting travelers of their valuables or even go as far as killing their victims.
A similar incident occurred about two years ago, when a trailer crushed about 40 robbery victims along Sagamu/Benin highway. The incident, which occurred along Odogbolu-Ijebu axis of the Benin expressway, also left several other passengers severely injured.
The Nigerian highways are very terrible roads to drive on during the day, talk less of at night. This is due to their make-up as most of these roads have large potholes and bumps scattered over them. While some are very narrow for cars moving in a particular direction to move freely, they are being plied by vehicles moving in both directions.
Most of the highways make in roads through bushes and areas far from peoples’ settlements for the safety of residents in the area. In situations where vehicles might develop mechanical fault in the middle of nowhere passengers and drivers are left to the mercy of ‘only God knows what,’ as no vehicle would be willing to stop to render help of any kind for obvious reasons, every person seen on the road at that time of the night is considered a potential suspect.
Kabir, a resident of Kaduna said, “I love travelling at night because, it helps me meet with my tight schedule at my place of work. Besides, there is lesser traffic during the night as the journey seems shorter at this time. But considering the risks involved, I think it is not worth doing.”
Rachael, a civil servant resident in Abuja said she has not travelled at night before and certainly does not plan to do so in future. She said, “I don’t like travelling at night. My parents detest it and have on several occasions warned me against doing it. I see no reason why I should travel in the night when I can do so in the day.
Aside the risks, there are many evils attached with the night. I don’t mean evils don’t exist in the day, but they are more pronounced in the night.
The agony of losing a loved one, especially at his or her prime is usually hard to contain. The agonizing lamentation of Mr. Stanley Ezerem, another survivor of the Lokoja-Abuja expressway tragedly, is enough to pull at everyone’s heartstings when he said, “I watched my son crushed to death”.
Life they say has no duplicate and should as a matter of care, not be subjected to unnecessary risks.
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