Thread by @thecableng

UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION: For N16,500, security agents will allow you travel from #Lagos to #Abuja despite interstate ban | TheCable bit.ly/2LVuUIf Cc @MBuhari @toluogunlesi @BashirAhmaad @NGRPresident @jidesanwoolu

#COVID19 #NairaForAccess #BreachOfTravelBan

Twenty-four hours to the trip, Otos, a worker at one of the bus terminals in the Jibowu area of Yaba, Lagos, had given all the assurances that there is commercial transportation to Abuja, and, in fact, to any part of the south-east. thecable.ng/undercover-inv… #BreachOfTravelBan

With a giggle, and then a long hiss, he dismissed the directive banning interstate travel. As soon as we settled to talk, he reached for his chest pocket and brought out a bunch of tickets, assuming that his next passenger had arrived. thecable.ng/undercover-inv… #NairaForAccess

Nigeria recorded its index coronavirus case on February 28, 2020 and by March 30, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the “COVID-19 Quarantine Regulations” to enforce measures to check the spread of the disease in the country. thecable.ng/undercover-inv… #BreachOfTravelBan

The quarantine act empowers the president to restrict movement when a “dangerous disease” breaks out in the country and on April 27, 2020, Buhari ordered a nationwide curfew from 8pm to 6am. thecable.ng/undercover-inv… #COVID19 #NairaForAccess #BreachOfTravelBan

He also banned interstate travel, sparing only those on essential services. The presidential directives had followed recommendations by the PTF on #COVID19, as the committee described interstate travel as one of the major causes of community transmission of the disease.

“Oga, this car will leave for Abuja latest by 7pm,” Otos said, pointing at a Toyota Sienna minivan with an open boot, suggesting it to be in a standby position. “We have to move before 8pm that the curfew starts,” he added. thecable.ng/undercover-inv… #COVID19 #BreachOfTravelBan

As expected, the charge is now almost double of what it used to be. But Otos justified the increment. “We have to settle those security people on the road, you know,” he smiled. thecable.ng/undercover-inv… #COVID19 #NairaForAccess #BreachOfTravelBan

“Oga na one passenger remain,” one of them said when they had successfully dragged me to a middle-aged woman called Aliya, the ticketer who was already waiting. “N15,000,” Aliya said as she asked for my name. thecable.ng/undercover-inv… #COVID19 #NairaForAccess #BreachOfTravelBan

As I waited for other passengers to arrive, Aliya began telling of how they have been “doing this business” despite the restriction order by the government. “As long as the driver is not greedy and he is readily sorting those policemen on the road, you are good to go,” she said.

Around OPIC area, now on the Ogun axis of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, we met the first roadblock. The stationery truck bore the police insignia and also an imprint of an Ogun state security agency. Jibola wore a mischievous grin when one of the policemen approached. #COVID19

“He’s our person,” he said, as he pulled over. He stepped out of the car, and in about three minutes, he was back.
“He passed me two days ago, so na 2k I give am today,” he said as the barricade was lifted. #COVID19 #NairaForAccess #BreachOfTravelBan

The drive through to Sagamu and other towns of Ogun was without much stress. Operatives at the few in-state roadblocks readily lifted the barricade as the driver greased their palms with as little as N200. Read more 👉thecable.ng/undercover-inv… #NairaForAccess #BreachOfTravelBan