The Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria (ALBON) said it has lost over N12 billion from the COVID-19 lockdown, closure of parks and borders in Nigeria since March 2020.
The group appealed to the federal government through the Ministry of Transportation to come to their rescue through grants and other palliative interventions to sustain the business after the Coronavirus pandemic.
The National Taskforce Chairman of ALBON, Chief Joseph Ejiofor and Anambra State Taskforce Chairman, Mr. Uchenna Maduakor, in a joint press briefing said that the owners are still counting losses as the lockdown and closure of borders subsist, saying that they have been paying salaries to their workers despite the fact that they parked their buses in compliance with the federal government directive and NCDC protocols on COVID-19.
Ejiofor appealed to the federal and state governments to allow their buses haul essential commodities, to sustain the bus owners within this period, since there is no passenger movement. They appealed to the government to direct the security men on the roads to allow their buses passage with only goods.
He said that since March 2020 their buses in Nigeria and at the other African countries were parked in their garages doing no business as most of the bus owners, stressing that their members now find it difficult to pay salary and feed their families.
