Hardship: Northerners turn to cargo trucks for cheaper journeys despite risks

By Maryam Abdul-Aziz Usman, Damaturu

POTISKUM — Despite Dangote’s ban on unauthorised passengers, Northerners still board its trucks to escape rising transport fares. In July 2026, Dangote Industries Limited offered N500,000 for credible information on illegal haulage, including unauthorised passenger transport, but travellers in Potiskum say rising fares leave them with few affordable options. Baba Iyatu, a middle-aged woman, was perched atop a Dangote compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered truck, among dozens of other passengers preparing to leave Potiskum, Yobe State. Her destination was Niger State, where her daughter had just given birth. For her, the journey was about family. But with the cost of conventional transport increasingly difficult to afford, reaching her daughter meant accepting the uncertainties of travelling on a truck designed to carry goods, not passengers.

Baba Iyatu and the others knew the company prohibited unauthorised passengers on its trucks. Yet they argued that those enforcing the restrictions did not understand their economic circumstances. To them, the arrangement offered cheaper travel while giving drivers and their assistants opportunities to earn extra money. Their predicament captures a troubling reality in Nigeria: when the price of moving from one place to another becomes prohibitive, some people are willing to sacrifice comfort and safety to reach their destinations. The difference in cost is stark.

Lagos fare

A transport union worker known as agbero (name withheld), was interviewed at the ‘Tashan Na Tsira’ Motor Park in Potiskum, and he told the Arewa Voice correspondent that a bus journey from Potiskum to Lagos, which previously cost about N15,000, now costs approximately N35,000. By comparison, passengers can negotiate rides on heavy-duty trucks for between N5,000 and N10,000, depending on the driver’s mood. The difference can amount to as much as N30,000 on a single journey. For people already struggling with the cost of food, accommodation and other necessities, that saving can determine whether a journey is possible at all.

Fuel prices have compounded the problem. In September 2026, petrol prices reached around N1,400 per litre in parts of Nigeria and N1,500 in some northern locations, while diesel exceeded N2,000 per litre, according to Reuters. Rising fuel costs add to the expenses facing transport operators, who must also contend with maintenance, spare parts and other running costs. But the passengers negotiating rides at Potiskum’s ‘Baban Tasha Park’ are not all travelling for the same reasons. Their stories reveal how the informal use of cargo trucks intersects with family obligations, unemployment and commercial activity.

‘I’ll think about job when I ge to Lagos’

Among those preparing to travel to Lagos was Adamu Hamisu, 24, who had secured a place on a privately owned truck transporting beans to the commercial city. It was his first trip to Lagos. He had arranged to stay with a friend but had no definite business plan. Asked what business he intended to start, Adamu said he would think about it once he arrived.

For the young man, reaching Lagos came before deciding what to do there. He was travelling in search of greener pastures, hoping that being in the city would bring opportunities he could not readily access at home. His journey illustrates the uncertainty facing young people who leave their communities to seek work or start businesses without substantial resources. Spending less on transportation could leave them with more money for food, accommodation and the first steps towards earning a living. Hassan Idris, 34, was travelling for a different reason. The livestock trader was taking 14 rams to Lagos to sell. He had arranged with the truck driver to collect a few more animals in Azare, Bauchi State. Having traded livestock for five years, he already had accommodation arrangements in Lagos and middlemen who bought his animals for resale.

Unlike Adamu, who was heading towards an uncertain future, Hassan was moving within an established commercial network connecting livestock traders in northern Nigeria with buyers in southern markets. Their journeys demonstrate how the use of cargo trucks extends beyond people simply trying to save money. The vehicles also form part of the wider movement of goods, traders and economic activity between communities. For the drivers and their assistants, however, the economics of the practice are different. Iliya, a truck driver’s assistant, explained that truck owners receive payment for delivering goods, while drivers and their assistants are settled for food and ‘calculated fuel expenses’. The assistants help deliver the cargo but do not necessarily receive the main payment for the job. Carrying passengers therefore offers another possible source of income. Sama’ila Ado, a truck driver who drove into ‘Tashan Yawale’, explained that drivers and their assistants also make money from selling used engine oil. According to him, the additional earnings form part of the informal arrangements through which they try to meet their daily needs while transporting goods over long distances.

These accounts expose the competing pressures surrounding the practice. The truck owner has a commercial delivery to complete; the driver and assistant must manage the journey’s expenses; and passengers are looking for a cheaper way to travel. An arrangement that benefits one party financially, however, does not automatically make it safe or permissible. The dangers begin with the conditions in which passengers travel. Those riding in open truck compartments or perched atop cargo have little protection from rain, dust and harsh weather. They also face the risks associated with sudden braking, vehicle instability and road accidents. For Baba Iyatu, the journey was a means of reaching her daughter and newborn grandchild. But the emotional importance of that visit could not remove the physical risks of travelling in a vehicle designed to carry goods rather than people. Drivers also contend with difficulties that can make long-distance haulage more expensive and unpredictable. Sama’ila described bad roads, rain and encounters with people who block roads and demand money from drivers. Such accounts point to additional pressures on transport operators, although the locations and circumstances of the reported incidents require further verification.

Poor road conditions can delay deliveries, increase vehicle maintenance costs and leave drivers exposed to breakdowns far from assistance. For operators already managing fuel and food expenses, delays and unexpected payments can further complicate the economics of a journey.

Dangote’s rule on truck

Dangote’s restrictions add another dimension to the problem.

In July 2026, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) announced a whistleblowing initiative offering N500,000 for credible information leading to action against the unauthorised use of its branded trucks, including the transportation of unauthorised goods and passengers. The company said the initiative was intended to protect its logistics operations and ensure that its trucks carried only approved cargo. The company also said law enforcement agencies, including the police, had been authorised to arrest drivers found using its trucks for unauthorised commercial haulage. The presence of passengers on the Dangote-branded truck observed in Potiskum therefore raises questions about how the restrictions are enforced and why some travellers continue to accept the risks. The observation establishes that passengers were aboard the truck; it does not, by itself, establish the identity of the truck’s operator or whether the company was aware of that particular journey. For passengers, the immediate concern is the price of reaching their destinations. For the company, unauthorised use of its vehicles raises questions of compliance, operational control and liability. For road safety authorities, transporting people in cargo compartments presents risks that cannot be dismissed simply because the fares are cheaper.

Nigeria’s road safety figures underline the wider danger. The Federal Road Safety Corps recorded 10,446 road crashes and 5,289 deaths nationwide in 2025, according to figures reported by the News Agency of Nigeria. These national figures do not establish how many crashes involved passengers on cargo trucks, but they demonstrate the serious consequences of road accidents. In Potiskum, the stories of Baba Iyatu, Adamu Hamisu, Iliya and Sama’ila touch on a question that a company ban alone cannot answer: why are people willing to take the risks of travelling on cargo trucks? One woman wants to see her newborn grandchild. One young man hopes to find a future in Lagos. A livestock trader is taking animals to established buyers. Drivers and their assistants are seeking additional earnings while completing deliveries. Their circumstances differ, but all are connected by the economics of the open road.

Al’baru travel may offer immediate savings, but it also exposes passengers to hazards associated with vehicles not designed to carry them. The challenge is not simply to enforce restrictions on unauthorised passengers; it is also to understand the economic pressures that make the practice attractive. Until safe, affordable transport becomes more accessible, the gap between the cost of travelling legally and the cost of taking a cargo truck may continue to push people towards journeys that save money but place their safety at risk.

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