LAGRIDE operators retrieving vehicles without notice, taking our jobs –Drivers


Some drivers of the Lagos State e-hailing taxi initiative, popularly called Lagos Ride have accused the managers of LAGRIDE of forcefully taking away their vehicles without notice or compensation.

According to them, armed men are being used by the managers to lay siege on drivers before their vehicles are forcefully taken away. The state government had in 2021 signed a partnership agreement with CIG Motors Company Limited to aid road transportation in the state, leading to the new e-hailing taxi scheme.

The state government had said the scheme would give the driver or operator the right to own the vehicle after payment was fully made within three and four years.

But drivers are currently complaining that the scheme was taking away their lifetime investment and their means of livelihood after depositing N700,000 and payment of at least N9,000 daily target.

One of the operators, Femi Ebenezer, claimed he sold his private car to make the initial payment to secure the LAGRIDE car, lamenting that he didn’t know the car would be taken away from him.

Ebenezer said, “I sold my private car when the state said we could pay some amount, and after a few years, the cars would become ours. I paid N700,000 to secure the car, including another N400,000. Sometimes, when I don’t work because of my health, I ensure that the daily asset fee is paid. The car’s camera developed a fault; I informed them, but they didn’t repair it on time.

“They repaired the car on May 2, 2023. But when I was about to go to work the second day, I discovered that the car had been locked. I called them all through, but they refused to unlock it. The second day, I saw them with armed men taking the car away from my house. The thought of losing all my investments deteriorated my well-being. I spent over two months in the hospital.”

Another operator, Isaac Edewa, said LAGRIDE claimed they took the car away because he underperformed after paying back over N700,000 excluding the insurance and maintenance fee and the initial N750,000 deposit.

Edewa said, “They said they were taking the car away because of low performance after paying over N1.4m on the car, apart from the daily 20 per cent they deduct from the work I did daily.

“I don’t understand their concept of low performance. I remitted to them daily. They came to take the car away. They didn’t pay me a dime. All my investment is gone. When I got there to beg, they said the car had been given to another person.”

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, whom the aggrieved operators consulted, said, “They have not given me instruction to go to court. They only came to complain. But if they say they want to go to court, I will have to look at their agreement papers and see whether they have a genuine case. They are alleging a breach of contract, so we have to look at that.”

Reacting, the LAGRIDE’s Head of Project, Adeyinka Onigbanjo, had earlier said in an interview with PUNCH Metro that anyone who felt aggrieved should approach the company after insisting the names of the aggrieved operators be provided by our correspondent.

“If you are not going to mention any name, tell these people to approach us individually and make their complaints,” he told PUNCH Metro.

When our correspondent contacted him on Sunday, his phone rang out, and a text message sent to him had yet to be responded to as of the time this report was filed.

budaatum:
Anyone find thread when this was introduced?

Bioboy1213:
The story no clear, I don't think Lagride can lock/retrieve vehicles if the drivers didn't default on payment.

Bioboy1213:
The story no clear, I don't think Lagride can lock/retrieve vehicles if the drivers didn't default on payment.

Bioboy1213:
The story no clear, I don't think Lagride can lock/retrieve vehicles if the drivers didn't default on payment.

REDshouse:
I knew they will resort to this from the onset... U want to give driver brand new suv to ply on bad roads and collect ridiculous passenger fare and want same driver to deliver as neck cutting amount weekly with deposit of 700k ....


Driver shld sue them and collect their initial deposit back..it's a scam venture