A war of sorts has broken out in cyberspace between a group of South Africans and Nigerians.
First blood was reportedly drawn by some South Africans who disrupted ride-hailing services in Nigeria by ordering rides and cancelling at the last minute.
Bolt and Uber drivers in Nigeria who received the orders got to the required destinations to find out that the orders were not real.
Videos of the fake orders and calls were put on social media, with some South Africans widely circulating it.
This infuriated some Nigerian youths who then retaliated by ordering rides in Johannesburg and Cape Town and canceling them.
More Nigerians jumped on the bandwagon and at its peak, over 40 rides were ordered to the same street in Johannesburg.
In a viral video, a swarm of drivers can be seen discussing the strange development that brought them all together without a single person stepping out to take any ride.
The development led to artificial price hikes and unavailable rides on Bolt and Uber platforms mainly in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Many end users had to resort to other transportation options including trekking on Thursday.
The crisis has raised concerns about the measures put in place by the ride-hailing platforms to check abuse by end riders.
Nigerian Country Manager for Bolt, Yahaya Mohammed, has responded to the crisis.
He said, “Bolt is aware of the incident involving fake ride requests between individuals in Nigeria and South Africa. We have successfully taken measures to resolve the issue of fake ride requests affecting our driver-partners, particularly those operating in Nigeria and South Africa.”
Efforts to reach Uber for their comments were abortive.
Reactions have been spontaneous and widespread. Most of the comments cautioned against the trend for the lasting impact it could have on the ride-hailing sub-sector of the transportation system of both countries.
The Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore are among prominent Nigerians who have condemned the act.
Omoyele said Nigerians ought not to have retaliated on the entire country for the misconduct of a handful of South African youths.
He called for an immediate halt to the ‘war.’
Some other Nigerians have proferred ideas as to how ride-hailing drivers in both countries can avoid the disruptors.
An X User, @Divineofspring advised: “When you get a booking, call the person who booked the ride and pay attention to their accent. Ask them some questions using local terms and slang. If possible, follow up with a direct call.”
Watch a clip of many ride-hailing drivers discussing after they all found themselves on the same street in South Africa due to fake orders here.
