End Bolt prank, businesses are getting destroyed, South African begs Nigerians

A South African content creator, Grand Dilan, has appealed to Nigerians to stop the infamous Bolt ride prank.

In a viral video on social media, Grand got down on his knees, admitting that Nigerians had taken the prank too far, causing many South African businesses to suffer since the rivalry between the two countries led to the prank.

“Nigerians, I’m on my knees. I’m begging you people to stop this. You guys have skyrocketed to another level.

“You have damaged a lot of businesses back in South Africa. So many businesses have closed apps. This is getting out of hand. You are destroying people’s businesses. You have destroyed millions,” he said.

Bolt also lamented its “financial losses” following the order-a-ride prank between Nigerians and South Africans.

The prank, which emerged amid ongoing rivalry between Nigeria and South Africa, forced Bolt to restrict inter-country ride requests between the two countries.

The ride-hailing company blocked an undisclosed number of riders, leading to significant financial losses and service disruptions in both countries.

Speaking on the issue, the Country Manager of Bolt, Yahaya Mohammed, said the company had launched an investigation to assess the financial losses recorded.

Mohammed said the company would enforce more sanctions, including restricting access to the Bolt app by users in Nigeria and South Africa.

He hinted that the company might compensate drivers who suffered losses.

“We blocked a high volume of orders coming from both Nigeria and South Africa, and the more permanent solution was to trace IP addresses from both countries and restrict them from ordering outside these countries.

“An investigation will be done internally, and everything will be analysed on how riders have ordered. The riders will be analysed in terms of their performance and what they have done in the past few days.

“We will analyse the rides booked and the kilometres wasted by drivers to see if there is room for compensation, but at the moment, it is being discussed, and communication will go out to drivers in the next few days.

“Going forward, we will have more restricted access, particularly for these two countries,” Mohammed said.