Bolt breaks silence on ongoing strike of its drivers in Port Harcourt

Carrying placards with several inscriptions on them, the drivers alleged unhealthy work-relationship, as they unanimously claimed that they operate under harsh conditions in Nigeria.

Amongst the concerns they raised were -kidnappings and attacks by miscreants, sexual harassments, and unfavourable fares for riders.

“The situation with these e-hailing platforms is very terrible in this state and we need a change. That is why we have come out in our numbers to speak up that we have suffered enough of sexual harassment from female riders to male drivers and vice versa.

“We have suffered insecurity where thieves, after stealing people’s ATM cards, will use them to book rides and we get robbed.

“We want these platforms to verify and profile the riders. As much as we are partners, we are also very important because without us there will be nothing like an e-hailing cab service,” Punch quoted one of the protesters as saying.

Addressing the concerns raised by the striking drivers in Port Harcourt, Bolt’s Regional Manager for West Africa, Uche Okafor stated that the ride-hailing service “thoroughly understands the frustrations and sentiments shared by the drivers in Port Harcourt and across Nigeria. The global community is challenged by events in the macro-environment that are unfortunately beyond our control.”

On the issue of insecurity, Okafor revealed that “Bolt constantly strives to find operational and technological improvements that make drivers and passengers safer on our platform. We continue to actively extend and improve our safety toolkit, which currently includes VoIP calls to secure driver and passenger information, an in-app SOS button linked to available emergency response and more. 

“Our high-priority team monitors and investigates all reported safety-related incidents and escalates to law enforcement agencies to ensure all incidents can be investigated appropriately. In addition, Bolt trips are insured for every driver and passenger on every trip at no extra cost. All these are only available for trips taken on the Bolt platform.”

Okafor, therefore, maintained that the safety of drivers and passengers is the fundamental foundation of the ride-hailing service.