By Olasunkanmi Akoni

THE full implementation of the ban on street trading in Lagos State which came into effect last Monday was greeted with a lot of misgivings in many quarters. In fact, the debate currently rages as to whether or not the state government was right to contemplate and implement the ban.

File: Damaged BRT bus during the rampage

But one private organisation that may have reason to welcome the ban is the Primero Transport Services which operates the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, franchise in Lagos. Reason? The company is presently counting and lamenting the huge losses it suffered when 48 of its 434 fleet of buses were attacked and seriously damaged by a rampaging mob reportedly led by hoodlums popularly known as Area Boys.

The Area Boys were said to be protesting the death, last Wednesday, of a street hawker who was knocked down and crushed by a distribution truck belonging to a bottling company. The hawker suffered the tragic fate while trying to evade arrest by officials of the Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI, an agency of government charged with the enforcement of environmental laws.

Managing Director of the transport company, Mr. Fola Tinubu, estimates that it will cost the company several millions in Naira to repair the damaged buses, adding that the attack on the buses signifies a major threat to investments in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub.

Although no bus belonging to the transport firm which operates the Ikorodu-CMS route was involved in the incident that sparked off the mayhem at Maryland, but the rioting mob typically decided to vent its rage on the handy BRT buses in the area.

By the time the mob’s rage had abated, over 48 buses had been vandalised with some drivers and passengers on board some of damaged buses sustaining injuries.

Tinubu noted that the attack and attendant losses could prove a disincentive to private investment in Nigeria.

While addressing journalists after an on-the-spot assessment of the damaged buses at the Ikorodu office of the transportation services provider, he expressed shock at the level of destruction and the sheer number of buses affected.

According to the Primero boss, the losses running into several millions of naira were a clear setback to investment, stressing that the Nigerian public must be educated to draw a line between private investment and public assets.

He also argued that no amount of provocation would justify the destruction of 48 new buses belonging to a private investor which has provided over 2,500 jobs since commencement of operations in November 2015.

Meanwhile, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has ordered the Police and other security agencies to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book to prevent future occurrence.