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Secret Reporters
There might be more than meets the eyes as to why the Onyishi Maduka Samuel owned Peace Mass Transit (PMT) has not been shut down by the Federal Government despite proofs that they specialize in ferrying innocent Nigerians to the great beyond on an almost monthly basis for more than twenty (20) years as though fulfilling a monthly ritual.
Calls for the closure of the blood-drinking Transit Company has become more intense following another gory episode which played out on Thursday 12 December 2019 along the Benin/Ore Expressway resulting in the death of about 18 individuals giving many the impression that the fare paid by the victims for the journey, were converted to payments for prematurely ferrying them to the great beyond in the dreaded PMT bus.
The accident, which has sparked controversies especially on various social media platforms, has left Nigerians, detailing various gory near-death experiences at the hands of Drivers, Staff members, and management of the company who have no regard for safety procedures on the road.
In narrating his ordeal at the hands of a known reckless Driver of the company, a social media user stated in a Facebook post that “It is no longer news that Peace Mass Transit kill people due to their reckless driving because I almost lost my life in December 2006 in an accident caused by one of this Mass Transit Drivers..”
Nnamdi Providence on his Facebook page also stated that “There is this disturbing thing I heard about Peace Transport that in every Peace Transit bus, at the back of the Driver’s seat you will see a bucket of paint, whenever the company’s bus is involved in an accident, what the Driver will do is to use the paint to clean the Company’s name on the vehicle. Someone has already confirmed this. Peace Transport is a Company of ritualists, I can never enter their bus”.
Ogu Hope C. also lamented that “I will not forgive PMT for killing my bestie Mildred Ugomma in 2013 while we were returning to UNN from Lagos. Their Drivers are reckless!!”
Ibuchi Ewuzie “I nearly lost my life in a rickety Collin cum bus belonging to this morgue company on the 27th day of November 2019. We boarded a bus from their Bwari Abuja terminal; we paid for AC compliant vehicles only to be packed in a moving matchbox…The manner of reckless driving I witnessed on the journey cannot be easily explained”.
“Is it that the PMT locally assembled buses are accident prone or the Drivers are poorly trained or is it an annual blood ritual??? Una bus don dey fear me ooo” Unachukwu Obinna Alex opined.
More so, the company which has lost touch with reality and having total disdain for every traffic law is alleged to be managed by touts, uncultured, untrained and rude staff members.
In indicting PMT, Onyeka Francis Oboh stated that “For many years, while a student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, I travelled with PMT. Unfortunately, the CEO has allowed touts to take charge of his business. Too many uncultured, untrained and rude staff, and the way the pack loads in those buses, sandwiching heavy loads in-between passengers. Those Agberos don’t care how comfortable you are…I gave up on the company the day I complained to the management that their Driver who was meant to drive us from Onitsha to Benin was heavily drunk that very morning and they just laughed it off…two hours with a drunkard on the wheel is too much for me. I left my money with them that day”.
A more disturbing account was the story of another customer on Facebook simply identified as Egbon Teju Olaoye who narrated his ordeal at the hands of a Peace Mass Driver “Peace Mass Transit that I entered from Onitsha to Lagos in 2015… At Ore where we got down to eat, I base for one corner dey high my weed. The driver came and was asking for 2 drags. I gave him sha, but I prayed before the journey continued. I shouldn’t have given him, but if you’re a stoner, you know the unwritten rule that says you never refuse another stoner… Plus I was sitting beside him and we had been chatting all through the journey.
“From the moment we moved after he took the 2 drags, I knew I f**ked up, He was playing Osadebe on the stereo. Where I knew that trouble had started was when he asked me “Nwanne ina fu ka ukwu osisi ndia si agba egwu”(My guy are you seeing the way the trees are dancing) I was like dancing gini?? Oga please don’t play rough play, focus on the road. I was high too, but when I realized the danger of the situation, my eye clear once! I started thinking of my family and my friends.
“I had hundreds of porn videos, so I deleted them, in case I die and any of my family members had access to my memory card. Small-time Driver was like “Nna 2pac dey sing die!!” “Oga 2pac?? How?? Na Osadebe be this na.. Driver say” Nna forget that thing! If to say you dey hear Igbo, you go dey understand wetin 2pac dey rap… Ona kpofe’m a kpofe(the rap is Transporting me to the great beyond”. Immediately I heard “great beyond” shit started catching me. I knew I would die for sure. I gave my life to Christ immediately!! Small-time we entered one big porthole, I gave my life to Christ again, in case he didn’t collect the first one. The driver was speeding; I was doing the sign of the cross… Only me and him knew what was happening. Other passengers were shouting, I wanted to turn back and advise all of them to give their lives to Christ-like I did. At least let us make heaven, but I didn’t want to cause alarm. The driver said, “Aboy jidegodi steering kam yiri shoe ofuma”(Boy help me hold this steering let me wear my shoe well). Hehehe. Me hold steering? I’ll pass.
“I plugged my earphones to listen to small gospel music, what better way to usher my soul into the bosom of Father Abraham. The first song was “Jesus take the wheels” Naah. Das, not a good song, Jesus please leave the wheels where we can see it, I change it! Thankfully, 2 drags dey only cause momentary paranoia. So before 20 minutes, Driver don camdan. But my mind no camdan, shit hold me till we reach the park. But to Jesus be my glory, I survived to tell the story”.
Lamentably, as the custom of the management of the mobile morgue disguised as a Transport Company, while Nigerians and relatives of victims who die in the month accident expect a remorseful but prompt apology from the management, the revere is the case as they begin releasing senseless press statements in argument of the number of casualties involved in the accidents.
In a press statement released on the official Facebook page of the company following the accident which occurred Thursday 12 December 2019, they stated “Dear Afam Okafor. It is not possible to have had 18 passengers. The news you read from mushroom blog sites were wrong and sponsored by our enemies who saw the accident as an opportunity to dent our image. There were fatalities actually but it was 4 persons who died in our bus and 3 persons also died in GUO bus.
Shockingly, in a contradictory statement, the spokesman for the FRSC, Mr Bisi Kazeem emphatically stated that “Four lives were lost. The crash occurred on Wednesday. The other vehicle belongs to GUO Transport Company. The Driver of GUO vehicle was the only victim in his vehicle while the remaining three were passengers in the PMT Vehicle.”
What this means is that while Peace Mass Transit agreed that seven Nigerians died in their bus recently, FRSC lied that only four persons died while eye witnesses confirmed that 18 passengers were sent to early grave. A Doctor of Optometry who was going for his induction was among those who died in the ill-fated accident, sources have told SecretReporters. Peace Mass has refused to release the manifest to the public.
Nigerians, however, call on the State and Federal Government to look into the operations of the Transport Company as the news of a fatal road accident involving the Transport Company in any part of the country has become an annual ritual.
