The Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON) has demanded stronger safety measures from ride-hailing platform inDrive after one of its drivers was robbed at gunpoint by passengers who booked a ride through the app.

inDrive, one of several e-hailing platforms operating in Lagos, uses a fare-bidding model in which passengers propose what they will pay and drivers choose which trip requests to accept.

In a statement signed by Steven Iwindoye, Public Relations Officer of the union's Lagos Council, AUATON said the driver was held up at gunpoint in the Ajao Estate area of Lagos while working on the inDrive platform. According to the statement, two men who had requested a ride threatened the driver with a firearm and drove away with his vehicle.

"Think about that for a moment. Someone left home early in the morning to earn an honest living, only to find himself staring at the barrel of a gun. How many more drivers must suffer before inDrive takes our safety seriously?" the statement reads.

The union questioned what would have happened had the driver been killed, leaving his family without its breadwinner, and asked how he would be compensated for the stolen vehicle and how he is expected to care for his loved ones now that his means of earning a living is gone. For e-hailing drivers, who typically supply their own vehicles, an incident of this kind threatens not only personal safety but also the income the vehicle makes possible.

"This is no longer just about a stolen car. It is about the lives of the people who keep this industry running," the statement reads.

How the robbery unfolded

The incident occurred on Sunday, October 25, in the Ajao Estate area of Lagos. According to the driver's account, he accepted the ride request on inDrive at about 4:30 a.m. On arriving at the pickup location, one of the passengers took the back seat while the other got into the front. As the trip began, the man in the front seat pulled out a pistol and demanded the car, leaving the driver with no choice but to surrender his vehicle.

The development follows a TechNext24 report that inDrive is reviewing its Terms of Use to take more responsibility.

The safety concerns come despite e-hailing companies' repeated emphasis on how much they have invested in safety. Security remains a persistent challenge in ride-hailing, with drivers regularly exposed to potentially life-threatening risks while working to support their families. How platforms handle those risks has become a recurring point of friction between app-based transport workers and the companies they drive for.

"Where are the effective passenger verification measures? Where is the emergency response system that drivers can rely on when their lives are in danger? What practical support is available to a driver who becomes a victim of a violent crime? We understand that no ride-hailing company can completely eliminate crime. But that is precisely why stronger safeguards, effective monitoring and a reliable emergency response system are necessary," AUATON said.

The union also called on drivers and riders to uninstall and stop using the inDrive app until the company demonstrates credible improvements in safety and accountability. The appeal amounts to a public boycott call — among the most direct forms of pressure available to a driver union, since e-hailing platforms depend on a steady match of rider demand and driver supply to function. Attention will now focus on how inDrive responds to AUATON's demands on passenger verification, emergency response and support for victims of violent crime, and on what changes emerge from the Terms of Use review reported by TechNext24.

"This is a call for peaceful collective action. We must make it clear that our lives are more important than trips, commissions or corporate growth," the union said.