There was unease among motorists in Abuja on Wednesday following pockets of violence that erupted due to the #EndSARS protests.
Pockets of violence in Apo, Waru, Wumba and Dutsen-Alhaji have left several people dead and properties burnt.
For a city bustling with traffic, most roads were deserted, yesterday, as some motorists nursed fear that violence could erupt again.
Some drivers who spoke with Daily Trust said they were scared of driving in the city since they did not know which area would suffer a security breach.
“There are fewer cars plying the roads because the protest grounds keep changing. With vandalisation of cars, drivers are cautious about where they commute to forestall any attack,” said a driver, Chibueze Emeka.
Emeka, who decried the violent turn of the protest, urged protesters to engage in a new strategy in going about their demands.
A visit to the Utako Park also showed that patronage dropped.
Hamza Umar, a driver, lamented that the protest was affecting road users severely as it took longer to get to a destination.
Hamza, who takes passengers into and out of the city, noted that an hour’s journey has now turned to about five hours, adding that it is neither good for the transport business nor the ordinary people who survive daily, living from hand to mouth.
“When the road is blocked, drivers have no option than to wait for the protesters to disperse but as they are stranded, both drivers and passengers get tired and frustrated,” he added.
A member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Abubakar Saidu, linked the low patronage of passengers to the blockade previously mounted on major roads in and out of Abuja.
He said Bwari was where most drivers in the park plied but they were now apprehensive of their cars being damaged by the protesters.
“We heard car windscreens were smashed by hoodlums. The passengers are also afraid of the violence and the amount of time it would take to get to their destinations,” he added.
In another twist, as the #EndSARS protest continued on Tuesday along Lugbe, Airport and Kuje roads, commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as ‘Achaba’ made brisk business as they hiked their fares to transport people across.
From Gosa to Kuje under bridge, which was formerly N100 to N150, they hiked the fare to N300-N500 depending on the bargaining power of the passenger.
From Under Kuje Bridge where another roadblock was mounted by the protesters, the motorcyclists charged the passengers to cross over and join another bike at N100 to Kuje junction which used to be N50.
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