Considering listed measures can help you while dealing with passengers who have motives different from getting home.
Taxify and Uber drivers in Nigeria have been recorded victims of passengers who murdered or made failed attempts, for the aim of stealing their vehicle.
There are however ways to reduce the risk of being a casuality.
Criminal-minded ‘transportation seekers’ aren’t actually in need of navigating to any destination - they are hardened masters or ones still growing in the ‘profession’ and are looking to make a living off crime sadly.
Lagos Island, an area known for its wide contingents of elites, has a rising list of cases relating to the murder or attempted murder of a cabbie.
There are no foolproof ways to guarantee safety but there are measures that can help reduce the chances of being the next murdered Uber or Taxify driver.
1. Develop a power of perception: One of the common ways of knowing a person is through long interaction. This will allow one to have an in-depth knowledge about the opposite character but their physical appearance or vocal mannerism can also give them away.
Ask questions to engage a potential passenger while having the phone conversation to pick them up.
Your job is a risk and you must explore all routes of safety but you should consider that some people are masters of deception. So don’t just rely on your guts.
2. Be mindful of the in-ride movement and comments: A person attempting to commit murder will most likely be aiming to find a perfect position to make a strike.
This will require such a fellow to make a abrupt movements at the back of the seat (This might be strange if driver is carrying just one passenger who is not suffering a heart attack), in a bid to make a move.
ALSO READ: Prison pals prevented from killing Uber driver after Taxify heist
Developing a sense to identify a distracting conversation may also prove useful.
3. Do not pull up at unfriendly environment during ride: Some passengers develop needs during their ride.
They might want to take a leak or answer nature’s call at a dark lonely corner on the Lekki-Epe Expressway. Use a discerning mind to identify honest requests and insist on reaching a safe environment before stopping the vehicle.
You could be saving yourself and the passenger from murder or may have simply avoided being murdered by one.
4. Be polite: Yes, you got that right. It is that simple!
Having good discipline can actually save your life if you are dealing with a passenger whose friends call him “Hannibal” (From the Anthony Hopkins post World War II movie). You are going to be riding around Lagos and Abuja for a lot of hours in a day. You shall meet potential passengers with different temperament, upbringing and culture - do not mess things up by becoming irritating. You don’t know who might just have a gun.
5. Don’t have a broken car engine at 1 AM on the Third Mainland Bridge: The good condition of your vehicle might be the safety net preventing you from making an unneeded stop for a passenger who needs a human skull for a meeting with an Alfa in Kwara State.
ALSO READ: Alfa, pastor arrested with human body parts
While a presumed male passenger is contemplating where to get the skull, don’t put yourself in a position that will allow him stay uncomfortably close.
Such opening is enough to fetch you a strike on the jugular while he is trying to hand you a spanner while your head was reclined in the car bonnet.
This is an imaginary possibility - think about it. Have a safe ride to your destination.
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