That was very callous of the driver, but the passengers have the power to prevent the driver from continuing the journey.
I'm sure the the passengers were divided and the more vocal ones got their wish.
The driver still has the power to overule them though

brokoto: bros/sis, they reported to the management and they said that nothing can be done and the driver was exonerated. I don't think bringing it here was too soon.

I know, but still...

While sympathizing with the victims, may we know whether the attack was the handiwork of the usual whipping boys- boko haram, muslims, abokis. Seriously, the issue of insecurity in this country should not be obscured by sentiments.

In times like this, it's best for the passengers to forget civility and met out some beatings to the driver as well as boycott bus activities on arrival. It's a possibility that the driver waas an accomplice.

eaglechild: That was very callous of the driver, but the passengers have the power to prevent the driver from continuing the journey.
I'm sure the the passengers were divided and the more vocal ones got their wish.
The driver still has the power to overule them though

God bless you, that's always the case of passengers; while some shout on driver not to overspeed, others will be busy shouting that the driver should speed up, and even at some point they might coerce the driver into speeding by comparing him with other cars overtaking them. I have experienced this some years back when I journeyed with one of these buses.

ABC drivers are well trained, they do pass tru training school, and their training school is a world class outfit where other parastatals and firms do send their drivers to for training. ABC don't hire touts or agberos as drivers, and most are aged men bw 30 to 50, who usually have families they are taking care of. So I wonder why a well trained driver would risk his passengers recklessly like that if at all he has no hidden agenda, and without the passengers' consents or coercion

Its so sad that this should happen, how can ABC be robbed in its own domain talking about the eastern region, so so sad and am not surprised at the management response. Air travel still remains one of the safest means of transportation

DailyNews:

This is an unfortunate scenario...please do not raise a false alarm, remember, this is someone's business you are trying to rubbish like this and as someone.... ....it won't be nice to watch...pls bro, it is an unfortunate scene, and believe me, it won't be taken lightly. Can you be kind enough to give out the driver's name and possibly the bus number pls? And moderators shouldn't have moved this to the front page too soon with more verifications cos this is an organization's image we are talking about here pls. Thanks

bros e bi like say u bi ABC staff, let me ask y do u pple delay ur pax on d road? Ave been told abt how u pple get 2lagos very late compare to cross country n co on ur accra-lagos route 4gettin dat some pax might stil be goin far ( like travellin 2 oda state) nt mindin where ur teminel is..... It wil be nice if u guys luk into it.

people stop all this, i understand what happen there, some passengers most have ask the drive to proceed while some will disagree.

I vowed neva 2 board ABC transport since 2009...I booked (a week b4)their ticket 4rm Abj 2 Lag dat year...On d 23rd December 2009, could u believe ABC magt abandoned Lagos passengers 4 Owerri, Onitsha, PH etc passengers till past 9am b4 Lag passengers were being called upon...after their rubbish checking, we left Abj 20mins past 10am, 6:45am departure time boldly written on their ticket...we got 2 Ibadan ard 1am(24th), then Lagos 3:30am(or thereabt), I had 2 stay till 6am @ their park @ JiboWu...Since, I vowed neva 2 have anytin doing wit dem...d fact dat they claim masters of the game baffles me, is it their useless measurement of luggages...#hisses#

gabmid: bros e bi like say u bi ABC staff, let me ask y do u pple delay ur pax on d road? Ave been told abt how u pple get 2lagos very late compare to cross country n co on ur accra-lagos route 4gettin dat some pax might stil be goin far ( like travellin 2 oda state) nt mindin where ur teminel is..... It wil be nice if u guys luk into it.

I am not a staff but I know all what you are talking about, and I will kindly brief you for better info.

ABC transport plc is not a one man business as many people do think. It is a public liability coy listed in the Nigerian stock exchange, with the founder, Frank Nneji as the CEO with other governing boards. ABC trans plc is not just into passenger movement or commuter traveling, it is also into Haulage of goods for industries, etc like Dangote Hauls, and its a major competitor in haulage. ABC trans plc is the number one cargo service provider in Nigeria and west africa and its west coast unit is simply the best in West Africa.


ABC plc has so many other arms...so huge, it has great customer service reputation but incidences of bad customer service do exist in all organizations n firms, so ABC cnt be an exception n its a regrettable experience.

Now to ur question as to why ABC buses delay, remember, d major causes of accidents in Nigeria is overspeeding n bad roads. Our drivers do knw that our roads are bad yet, they keep on over-speeding n endangering the lives of innocent passengers just to make more trips and earn more trip allowances, that's absurd, therefore, ABC discourages this act by putting speed limiting devices on their buses to ensure to ensure the drivers don't over-speed.

ABC long buses known as luxurious buses have a speed limit of 90KM/HR, while their commuter buses sometimes referred to by Nigerians as Hummer buses are limited at 110KM/HR.

Now let me ask you ma, is it better you arrive at your destination safely but somehow late, or early but unsafe or hurt?

I doubt the authenticity of this story because most of the renowned transporters had stopped moving at night.
And more over, some passengers may be telling the driver to continue the journey because they need to meet up an appointment the next day.

An example was a situation where passengers begged an ABC driver to put off a/c because the weather was cold. On getting to the next abc stop over, the key was collected from the driver because someone else called had called the head office and complained that the driver put off the a/c.

4 years ago i boarded ABC from P.H to Abuja and i regretted ever using that coach, they are unorganized, got no respect for time and conductors are openly collecting bribe to load your luggage.

It was one of the most agonizing journey i ever took.

Thanks Op for sharing this

Nobody I know will ever set foot in those buses

Somebody is sharing their predicament, others are blaming him/ passengers, others are defending the company

Plc ko, stock exchange ni............bottom line is that people entered that company bus and neither reached their destination on time nor with their valuables and nobody is investigating the blasted case talk less of compensation for victims or a query for the driver

Failed state!

vizion:

There should have been over 40 passengers in that bus. do you mean that they could not boycott the bus and insist that the journey be continued the next day??

What did the Driver/conductor/Company loss? they had no valuables, no luggage in the bus. People should learn to demand for what is right, as it was their lives and property at stake.

the 40 passengers couldn't have thought alike,they would have been persons who had appointment to catch and transactions to make,hence would have insisted on continuing the trip.

dnawah: which kind drive?sell the bus and share the money.

I wonder who will be willing to buy an ABC bus by 4 in the morning

Chinwem: Thanks Op for sharing this

Nobody I know will ever set foot in those buses

Somebody is sharing their predicament, others are blaming him/ passengers, others are defending the company

Plc ko, stock exchange ni............bottom line is that people entered that company bus and neither reached their destination on time nor with their valuables and nobody is investigating the blasted case talk less of compensation for victims or a query for the driver

Failed state!

Dont be naive.
No one is defending the company.
U have to weigh all sides of the story.
It's all too common for passengers who have appointments to catch to mount pressure on the driver to continue a journey late into the night.
It is left for the driver to resist such.

kaorama: You guys deserve it all. After d robbery, u all entered d bus and continued ur journey, shee? U couldn't deall with d driver approriately? I suggest all d passengers should be detained and questioned.

Olodo. Na u for drive the bus go PH? No wonder u be sch drop-out!

DailyNews:

This is an unfortunate scenario...please do not raise a false alarm, remember, this is someone's business you are trying to rubbish like this and as someone.... ....it won't be nice to watch...pls bro, it is an unfortunate scene, and believe me, it won't be taken lightly. Can you be kind enough to give out the driver's name and possibly the bus number pls? And moderators shouldn't have moved this to the front page too soon with more verifications cos this is an organization's image we are talking about here pls. Thanks

Do your drivers wear name tags?

eaglechild:
Dont be naive.
No one is defending the company.
U have to weigh all sides of the story.
It's all too common for passengers who have appointments to catch to mount pressure on the driver to continue a journey late into the night.
It is left for the driver to resist such.

I beg to differ
My position remains unchanged as per my initial post.
Wrong use of 'naive' here as far as i m concerned. And actually Sir, someone is defending the company. I do not need you to agree with me .

Sometime in 2009, 6 robbers boarded ABC bus from PH to Abuja and hijacked the bus between Owerri and Onitsha. Anyone who values his safety should never use ABC.

Imanuelle: On d oda hand...... How come d bus rode for close to 3hrs after d robbery to ph.... Souldnt be up to 1hr nah..

Dats d major problem wit nigerians..

If every passenger had one voice... And insisted dey wouldn't move... Y'all wudda been safe

even at dat acordng 2d op d bus left by 7.45am.nd u knw abc do operate ds speed limit tins.so even at 40kmph speed d tyme dy arivd is absurd abj is barely 5hs 2d east nw excludng hold ups.so i smel a rat

the whole truth has not been said about this story.

DailyNews:

This is an unfortunate scenario...please do not raise a false alarm, remember, this is someone's business you are trying to rubbish like this and as someone.... ....it won't be nice to watch...pls bro, it is an unfortunate scene, and believe me, it won't be taken lightly. Can you be kind enough to give out the driver's name and possibly the bus number pls? And moderators shouldn't have moved this to the front page too soon with more verifications cos this is an organization's image we are talking about here pls. Thanks

Arrant nonsense. . . you obviously value the business much mote than the lives willingly put at risk?

@Poster,
It's quite unfortunate hearing of this incident and i sympathise seriously with the victims. Having said that i will like to point out that from the little i know about road transport industry in Nigeria, ABC Transport is the safest road transport company in Nigeria. Wait a minute before some of you start chewing me raw, it is my opinion you are entitled to yours. I am talking based on my personal experience, observation and study, i realised that it is the only company where at the end of the year most times record no passenger death on accident or robbery or related event and sometimes if they do, its is minimal e.g while other companies records as high as 50 and above deaths in a year they do like 5 to 11 maximum which is even rare.

Their speed control measures coupled with serious safety department road surveillance, vehicle tracking and constant communication with all transit drivers on the status of the roads has help them to be the safest transport company in Nigeria at the moment.

In any case there is no perfect system anywhere in the world they may once in a while have their own down times that is not to say they should be rubbished the way some of those responding here are painting them to look. What we are saying is that in this recent incident, the driver should be brought to face the music for risking the lives of the passengers and exposing them to such a disaster instead of some people saying ABC Transport is a no go area, if its a no go area which of the transport companies is A Go Area? I have used almost all of them i discovered ABC is the the first when it comes to safety.

Look its not easy doing business in Nigeria if you have tried one you will confess that the environment is unfriendly since govts have neglected majority of their core duties ( such as security , Roads, etc). My point is those who are putting their best should be appraised with some fairness.
God will help us.

babestella: This driver should have been sacked because traveling further to PH from Owerri at that time of the day despite warnings from the passengers? I think it is a set up by the driver himself, he has a share in the loot and he should have been investigated. If ABC did not do anything about it, then people better stop risking their lives boarding ABC to any part of the country.

Sue them and get them pay for your damages.

cigar icon: Hmmm sumtin similae happened to my cousine. He said when he was travelling from abuja to onisha(night journey), the driver stopped several times to the extent that the passengers were worried. When they got to okene along a bushy area, the driver flashed his head light twice for reason no body could tell cos there was no vehicle coming from the oposite direction. Then suddenly he reduced the speed of the vehicle and Gbam robbers apeared from nowhere. My cousin lost so much dat day, his iphone, laptop some of his jewelries and so on although nobody was harmed. I'v vowed never to toke a night bus ever in my life sinc he told me this. May God help us oh

Is this acting or something else You people should write a letter to their CEO/management detailing these things signed by a lawyer...

I used to respect that company due to the careful driving/speed control displayed by their drivers.

This is a very wrong use of Nairaland. To rubbish someones business on the front page when the story is not verified. How I'm I sure this story is not sponsored by the competitor. Seun I advice you discpline whoever brought this to the front page. It is different if the management were obstinate to the moderator or established they were refused compensation after repeated warning from Nairaland of the consequence. I have only boarded ABC once few years ago(and can say they are well trained), so I'm not speaking for them but for the future. Shd people begin to use Nairaland to witchhunt their competitor after paying a moderator one huge some. I support Chibuzors Eze scam case that was brought to the front page because he was stubborn and arrogant not this one that no investigation has been done. You better remove this from the front page. Nairaland is already a brand and anything brought to the front page is your image at stake, u better have rules that regulates when issues like this should be brought to the front page;u don't close other genuine businesses while trying to grow your own

feelgood: ABC bus (Abuja to PH) left yesterday morning by 7.15am. After some questionable stops, it got to Owerri by midnight - usually it should have arrived PH much earlier.

Could you please explain what you mean by questionable stops?

The ABC that I know of stops only at ABC terminals and other designated bus-stops.

ABC is so flawless and upright that they stick to their departure time.

If 7:15am is what's written on your ticket, it means that at 7:15 even if its only 5 persons who have purchased tickets, the driver would depart.

I experienced such when I was traveling from Awka to owerri via ABC...a bus which was supposed to accommodate at least 15 passengers was so scanty...we were less than 7 passengers in that bus, and as soon as it clocked 8:30am (the departure time) the driver left Awka and headed for owerri.

Surprisingly, he didn't stop to pick passengers on the way like other transportation companies do. Instead he drove us straight to our destination.

So mr poster please get your facts straight before thinking of rubbishing some else's business.

feelgood: Despite pleas by passengers that the driver should wait till day breake specially as the route was not safe at that time of day, the driver ignored security warnings and proceeded at 1.30am 28th Dec. Within an hour from Owerri, they were ambushed and robbed by armed robbers who requested the passengers to march into the bush leaving their luggage behind. After the robbery operation and the departure of the robbers, the bus continued to PH and finally arrived about 5am - almost 24hrs after leaving Abuja.

I don't understand you here...what's the distance from Abuja to Ph?

A bus that leaves Abuja at 7:15 am, no matter the kind of stopping the driver makes should get to PH latest by 7pm.

Now there's one rule you don know...no transportation company bypasses its bus-stop.

ABC has a park at onitsha so if at all you guys arrived late as you claimed, the driver would have driven straight to their park for a break, and continue the journey the following day.

I've experienced that several times.

This leaves me with the following questions.

Where exactly were you robbed?

What route were you referring to that wasn't safe, cos I see no notorious route from Abuja to Ph.

The routes like the benin by pass and benin roundabout were probably passed in broad day light...cos I've never encountered any form of holdup there.

All holdups end at ore, and resume in Asaba. And coming from Abuja, you definitely aren't going to make use of the ore route.

So if at all you encountered any form of hold up in Asaba, that held you guys till 1am, the driver would have parked his bus at onitsha, cos no one and I repeat no one uses the upi-iweka route at such an odd time (1am).

So I ask again where exactly were you robbed?

feelgood: The passengers narrated their ordeal to the ABC management and the driver's obstinacy that got them into the problem. Rather, the passengers were informed that there was nothing ABC could do and the driver was exonerated.

Lies.

No transportation company bus would get to its destination 5am (almost 24 hours after departure) and the management would fold their arms.

Its not possible...the manifesto which you filled has a carbon copy that stays with the management. So at the estimated time, if there's no trace of the bus, a call would be put across to the driver to know his exact location and how safe it is for him to continue his trip.

That's what standard companies like ABC, the young, chisco, ekene...etc do.

feelgood: If you are travelling by ABC, esp on the east west route, you are on your own o. The purported insurance cover is a joke. ABC is a rip off and when the chips are down, customer service is thrown out of the window.

If you don't have strong proofs to back up your claims, then I would suggest that you refrain from posting crap on this site.

Thanks.

.

why do u ppl like killng ppl's name and business... Talk abt d insecurity in nig and leave abc alone.

I wonder why people risk their lives, to travel to places they are not safe in, to experience unnecessary stressful events, to then meet people they don't necesarily want to be with, all in the name of xmas. SMH