Abuja – The Senate has been called upon to revisit the rejected motion on night journeys embarked upon by luxury bus operators.

Making the call in Abuja on Wednesday in an interview  the Chairman, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Mararaba chapter, Pastor Charles Nelson described the rejection of the motion as “hasty”.

“The Senate should take a second look at the motion, considering its many life-saving advantages to Nigeria’s travelling public, as many lives have been lost as a result of night journeys,” the clergyman remarked.

“Night travelling is extremely dangerous and should be banned in its entirety,” he maintained, adding that “the danger in embarking on night journeys by commercial bus operators is what very Nigerian should dread.”

“They should reconsider the dilapidated nature of our highways, the night marauders on the highways and the bad condition of most of the buses.

”Apart from these, the night drivers can easily dose off on steering while on motion.

“The night bus escorts are no longer in existence, so there are compelling reasons why night journeys should be banned,”  Nelson stressed.

Applauding the Senate’s rejection of the bill, however, the Chairman, Luxury Bus Proprietors Association, Mararaba chapter, Mr Raphael Okaha described the Senate decision as “timely” and “a very welcome development”.

Okaha  on Wednesday, stated that the Senate’s “overwhelming rejection of the motion was what the Association and every right-thinking Nigerian expected”, adding, “so we salute their courage”.

The chairman said that “businessmen and women prefer to travel by night flights instead of embarking on non-profitable day journeys and end up getting to their destinations at night.”

He maintained that “it is economically sensible for a trader to leave for a long distance market by night, and the following morning he transacts his business throughout the day and returns the following night with his goods to meet the needs and yearnings of his customers”.

“Our distinguished sister who sponsored the motion should have reconsidered its effects or consulted with stakeholders as an Igbo woman before making such unnecessary move,” Okaha added.

On the forthcoming Christmas celebration, the Chairman stated, “we are always conscious of the usual rush at Christmas and we will ensure that our buses are in good shape to cope with the anticipated upsurge in passengers’ patronage during the yuletide period.”

Also reacting, the General Secretary/PRO of the Association, Prince Oluchukwu Chukwuji lauded the Senate for turning down the motion, noting that “it was not in the best interest of traders and buyers in the country”.

“The night is always very free and smooth for the journey because we have to consider the problem of long distance hold-ups, the menace of long trailers and fuel tankers plying the roads in the day time which often made day journeys miserable”.

Chukwuji advised the lawmakers to sponsor motions “to mandate the Federal Government to repair and rehabilitate all the dilapidated Federal roads” across the country, “especially the ones in the Southern part of the country, which, he noted, had virtually become death-traps.”

The General Secretary also appealed to the Federal Government to deploy enough security operatives, including “well-armed mobile policemen, soldiers and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) personnel to man the highways at night, to check the activities of highway robbers”.

The motion was sponsored by Sen. Chris Anyanwu of Imo, urging her colleagues to ban night travels due to the bad state of roads and the security implication.

In rejecting the plea, the lawmakers argued that adopting the motion would amount to an infringement on the people’s right to movement, stating categorically that night travels should be sustained.

The Senate further stressed that rather than go against the constitution to restrict people’s movement, night travels should be made safer and urged the Federal Government to properly equip the FRSC to enable it effect safety on the roads at night.

Night travel is a critical mode for many Nigerians, especially businessmen and women moving across the country’s cities. (NAN)