…Official Taxis Vanish as Private Car Owners Exploit Regulatory Gaps, Raise Security Concerns
The yellow-and-black commercial taxis that once defined Enugu’s streets are vanishing, replaced by unregulated private vehicles operating illegally as cabs, a development that has raised fresh concerns over passenger safety and the future of the state’s formal taxi scheme.
CDA News Nigeria reports that findings by The Guardian showed that cabs bearing the official colours of Enugu State have steadily disappeared from the streets, creating room for unpainted and unmarked commercial vehicles known locally as kabu-kabu.
CDA News Nigeria gathered that the decline traces back to the Sullivan Chime administration, which infused over 700 Nissan Sunny and Suzuki Alto taxis, popularly called “Sullivan Taxi” or Coal City Cabs, to boost the state’s taxi scheme between 2007 and 2015. Today, those vehicles have largely vanished, with one traveller, Okwuoma Ikpe, describing an encounter where no single taxi bearing official colours could be found at the Young Motors terminal.
The vacuum is now being filled by private car owners who deploy their vehicles for commercial use, often after working hours. A civil servant, Ikenna Egwu, told The Guardian he fixes a detachable reflective taxi sign atop his Toyota Corolla after 6 pm to ferry passengers.
Egwu attributed the shift to commuters preferring tricycles and mini-buses due to lower fares. He noted that tricycles and buses are restricted to a 9 pm operating limit, leaving taxis to take over at night when they are off the streets.
The Society for Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (STPN) had earlier appealed to the state government to lift the 9 pm ban on tricycles and mini-buses, saying the restriction was hurting nightlife and hotel businesses, with taxi drivers allegedly charging over 100 per cent above normal fares after 9 pm.
The Enugu State Government has since moved to reorganise the transport sector, procuring 200 CNG-powered BRT buses and 4,000 electric taxis, and designating dedicated BRT routes on five major highways. However, the transition has been slow, with the kabu-kabu operators continuing to exploit the gap left by the vanishing official cabs.
CDA News Nigeria reports that the rise of unregulated commercial vehicles poses safety risks to passengers, as these vehicles are not registered, tracked, or subject to the same oversight as the official taxi scheme.
Keywords: Kabu-kabu, Enugu yellow cabs, unregulated vehicles, commercial taxis, Enugu transport, BRT Enugu, Sullivan Taxi
Tags: #KabuKabu #Enugu # #Transport #BRT #EnuguState #Nigeria
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