The Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON) has raised the alarm over the gruesome and incessant killing of its members in some parts of the country.
 
The union lamented the recent killing of three members of the union in Port Harcourt and another member in Abuja. National President of the union, Adedamola Adeniran, alleged that the Port Harcourt incident, which involved three of its members working on the bolt app, appeared to be a coordinated attack as the killing and robbery happened on the same day between 7:30 p.m. and 10:00p.m. in Wopara street in old Government Reserved Area (GRA), Abakaliki by Nanka street, and Diobu respectively.
 
More painful, he said, was the attack that led to the death of Emmanual Daniel, who was said to be driving to a pickup location where he was attacked after receiving a call from the passenger and his car being snatched.He said Roland Asuru and John Okon were both shot dead and their cars taken away by the suspected robbers.
 
He lamented another report of brutal killing and car snatching of its members in Abuja. He said: “It was pathetic and unacceptable that within two days, app-based transporters of Nigeria would lose four of its members and seven cars in the course of carrying out essential service to members of the public due to inadequate security measures and intelligence to avert the plans of the robbers.
  
“The union had made several calls to the app companies, as part of measures to prevent security breaches, to profile riders adequately by making means of national identity cards a prerequisite for all passengers before they could board or take a rider on the app, but they have been very adamant and watch our members die a preventable death even without justice and compensation.
 
“As a registered trade union with the responsibility to protect our members against preventable circumstances like this, we are making a call on the Federal Government as a matter of urgent to direct the Ministry of Transport, Science and Digital Economy or any relevant ministry to direct these application companies to capture National Identification Number (NIN) of the passenger before ordering a ride, at the same time work with the union on the regulatory framework for the industry.”
 
“We are also calling the governor of River State, FCT Minister and the police authority to facilitate investigation and bring these deadly killers to book while we urge that the family of the deceased are compensated adequately by the government and the app-company.“We sympathise with these families and also call on our members to be security conscious at all times as we approach the festive season.”