Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Uber drivers in Lagos, Nigeria using fake GPS app to inflate fares
Some Uber drivers in Lagos have been using a fake GPS itinerary app to illicitly bump up fares for local riders.
Initially created for developers to “test geofencing-based apps,” Lockito, an Android app that lets your phone follow a fake GPS itinerary, is being used by Uber drivers in Lagos to inflate the cost of their trips.
In some cases, inflated trips can cost riders more than double the rate they should be paying. “It’s more like a parasite,” says Mohammed, a driver for both Uber and Taxify in Lagos. “It sets the false GPS movement while allowing the phone also to keep track of its actual movement. The Uber app can’t tell the difference between both so it just calculates both.”
When a driver uses Lockito for an Uber trip he or she can have the fake GPS running (and calculating a fake fare) from the pickup point to the drop off location, before the passenger has even got into the car. When the real trip starts, the real GPS starts running and calculating the actual fare. But at the end of the journey the fares from both trips (real and fake) are tallied up as one fare which the unsuspecting rider pays.
Uber Nigeria is aware of the abuse of Lockito by certain drivers. Spokeswoman Francesca Uriri, said it is in violation of Uber’s guidelines and the company is “constantly on the lookout for fraud by drivers and riders who are gaming our systems.”
The drivers Quartz spoke with said Lockito or “Locki”, is simply a reaction to Uber’s 40% slash of its base fare implemented in May. Many drivers were unhappy about the price drop and there were a series of protests which had little impact.
Williams*, an Uber driver who asked his real name not to be used, says he heard about Lockito a while ago but initially had no interest in using it. “Uber was sweet, until they slashed the price,” he says. “They did not bring back their price up, so the work started getting tough and tougher.”
“When the thing was just getting tougher, I had no choice but to go on Lockito.”
He claims he uses the app four to five times a week, but has specific targets and does not use it on just anyone.
Williams says the main reason he uses the app is to ensure he can meet his weekly payments to his Uber partner [the owner of the car], a situation he says many other drivers are in. Most ridesharing drivers in Nigeria do not own their cars, instead they partner with car owners and pay them a weekly fee, which according to Williams has become harder to meet as a result of the base fare slash.
Despite coming out of recession in September, the economic situation is still tough in Nigeria, which is still struggling to bounce back from the global drop in oil prices. A recent report from the World Poverty Clock predicts that by February 2018 Nigeria will overtake India and become the country with the most people living in extreme poverty. Food prices are still high although inflation has dropped and many Nigerians still lack access to basic amenities. Unemployment and underemployment are rife, leading some Nigerians to cut corners to make things work.
In recent weeks, two Uber drivers representing other drivers on the platform have started a class action suit in Nigeria’s economic hub arguing that they should receive employee benefits from Uber.
“There are a lot of drivers on Locki, every driver on Uber is on Locki,” Williams says. “The only ones that are different is the new drivers…and they’re still coming to us to teach them Locki.”
Some drivers use Lockito to inflate fares by adding 1000 naira to 2000 naira extra (roughly $3 to $6) but some drivers are believed to inflate fares to exorbitant levels.
A trip from Lekki, a neighbourhood in Lagos, to Murtala Muhammad International airport is roughly 32 kilometers and would normally cost just under 3,000 naira ($8). Williams says he recently heard of a Lockito trip that cost more than 5 times that amount.
Williams’ highest Lockito ride so far is 10,000 naira, (the trip normally would have cost the rider N3,000), and although he has expressed guilt over using the app he remains adamant that an increase of the base fare is the only way to stop it being used, a sentiment shared by other drivers.
“If you block that same Lockito today, another one will come out,” says Uchenna*, a partner and driver on Uber who claims not to use Lockito. “If that base fare is normal [and] everybody’s receiving their incentive on a normal level, that thing [Lockito] will go off. They want to get the normal, accurate price that Uber were before.”
“Lockito or no Lockito,” adds another driver who asked not to be named, “if Uber want the Lockito not to exist, that means they have to come back to the base fare.”
Perhaps most surprisingly, drivers accuse Uber of not only knowing about app, but purposely not doing anything about it because they still want to maximize their profits.
“If you’re using Lockito [with] Uber [it] will tell you “fake location detected”…they will tell you [the driver],” says Williams. “Sometimes when I run it [Lockito], Uber will tell me, “your map of your location…is fake,” you’ll now click OK…and still yet, I take my money…”
Uber denies these allegations. “Uber has automated rules in place that warns and permanently deactivates any account or accounts associated with fraudulent activity,” Uriri says. “Uber encourages both riders and driver-partners to rate their journey at the end of the trip. Honest feedback helps ensure that everyone is accountable for their behavior.”
Uber says all riders that report fraudulent activity will be refunded. But Uriri adds that the use of the Lockito will not impact Uber’s pricing policy.
Taxify, one of Uber’s biggest rivals in Nigeria, has been blocking drivers that try to use Lockito.
“You can’t do that anymore on Taxify, they were doing it before on Taxify but then Taxify made drivers update the app, once you update your app, you can’t use Lockito anymore,” says Williams.
Despite issues with the base fare, Uber’s brand stays strong in Nigeria and drivers want the company to remain, but only if the system changes. This is important as competition increases from newcomers including local e-hailing apps like Motionplus and Alpha One, some of which are offering to pay fuel for drivers.
“I pray Uber should learn from now,” says Williams. “This is Nigeria, not abroad, the more things are getting worse, the more drivers are planning things.”
Initially created for developers to “test geofencing-based apps,” Lockito, an Android app that lets your phone follow a fake GPS itinerary, is being used by Uber drivers in Lagos to inflate the cost of their trips.
In some cases, inflated trips can cost riders more than double the rate they should be paying. “It’s more like a parasite,” says Mohammed, a driver for both Uber and Taxify in Lagos. “It sets the false GPS movement while allowing the phone also to keep track of its actual movement. The Uber app can’t tell the difference between both so it just calculates both.”
When a driver uses Lockito for an Uber trip he or she can have the fake GPS running (and calculating a fake fare) from the pickup point to the drop off location, before the passenger has even got into the car. When the real trip starts, the real GPS starts running and calculating the actual fare. But at the end of the journey the fares from both trips (real and fake) are tallied up as one fare which the unsuspecting rider pays.
Uber Nigeria is aware of the abuse of Lockito by certain drivers. Spokeswoman Francesca Uriri, said it is in violation of Uber’s guidelines and the company is “constantly on the lookout for fraud by drivers and riders who are gaming our systems.”
The drivers Quartz spoke with said Lockito or “Locki”, is simply a reaction to Uber’s 40% slash of its base fare implemented in May. Many drivers were unhappy about the price drop and there were a series of protests which had little impact.
Williams*, an Uber driver who asked his real name not to be used, says he heard about Lockito a while ago but initially had no interest in using it. “Uber was sweet, until they slashed the price,” he says. “They did not bring back their price up, so the work started getting tough and tougher.”
“When the thing was just getting tougher, I had no choice but to go on Lockito.”
He claims he uses the app four to five times a week, but has specific targets and does not use it on just anyone.
Williams says the main reason he uses the app is to ensure he can meet his weekly payments to his Uber partner [the owner of the car], a situation he says many other drivers are in. Most ridesharing drivers in Nigeria do not own their cars, instead they partner with car owners and pay them a weekly fee, which according to Williams has become harder to meet as a result of the base fare slash.
Despite coming out of recession in September, the economic situation is still tough in Nigeria, which is still struggling to bounce back from the global drop in oil prices. A recent report from the World Poverty Clock predicts that by February 2018 Nigeria will overtake India and become the country with the most people living in extreme poverty. Food prices are still high although inflation has dropped and many Nigerians still lack access to basic amenities. Unemployment and underemployment are rife, leading some Nigerians to cut corners to make things work.
In recent weeks, two Uber drivers representing other drivers on the platform have started a class action suit in Nigeria’s economic hub arguing that they should receive employee benefits from Uber.
“There are a lot of drivers on Locki, every driver on Uber is on Locki,” Williams says. “The only ones that are different is the new drivers…and they’re still coming to us to teach them Locki.”
Some drivers use Lockito to inflate fares by adding 1000 naira to 2000 naira extra (roughly $3 to $6) but some drivers are believed to inflate fares to exorbitant levels.
A trip from Lekki, a neighbourhood in Lagos, to Murtala Muhammad International airport is roughly 32 kilometers and would normally cost just under 3,000 naira ($8). Williams says he recently heard of a Lockito trip that cost more than 5 times that amount.
Williams’ highest Lockito ride so far is 10,000 naira, (the trip normally would have cost the rider N3,000), and although he has expressed guilt over using the app he remains adamant that an increase of the base fare is the only way to stop it being used, a sentiment shared by other drivers.
“If you block that same Lockito today, another one will come out,” says Uchenna*, a partner and driver on Uber who claims not to use Lockito. “If that base fare is normal [and] everybody’s receiving their incentive on a normal level, that thing [Lockito] will go off. They want to get the normal, accurate price that Uber were before.”
“Lockito or no Lockito,” adds another driver who asked not to be named, “if Uber want the Lockito not to exist, that means they have to come back to the base fare.”
Perhaps most surprisingly, drivers accuse Uber of not only knowing about app, but purposely not doing anything about it because they still want to maximize their profits.
“If you’re using Lockito [with] Uber [it] will tell you “fake location detected”…they will tell you [the driver],” says Williams. “Sometimes when I run it [Lockito], Uber will tell me, “your map of your location…is fake,” you’ll now click OK…and still yet, I take my money…”
Uber denies these allegations. “Uber has automated rules in place that warns and permanently deactivates any account or accounts associated with fraudulent activity,” Uriri says. “Uber encourages both riders and driver-partners to rate their journey at the end of the trip. Honest feedback helps ensure that everyone is accountable for their behavior.”
Uber says all riders that report fraudulent activity will be refunded. But Uriri adds that the use of the Lockito will not impact Uber’s pricing policy.
Taxify, one of Uber’s biggest rivals in Nigeria, has been blocking drivers that try to use Lockito.
“You can’t do that anymore on Taxify, they were doing it before on Taxify but then Taxify made drivers update the app, once you update your app, you can’t use Lockito anymore,” says Williams.
Despite issues with the base fare, Uber’s brand stays strong in Nigeria and drivers want the company to remain, but only if the system changes. This is important as competition increases from newcomers including local e-hailing apps like Motionplus and Alpha One, some of which are offering to pay fuel for drivers.
“I pray Uber should learn from now,” says Williams. “This is Nigeria, not abroad, the more things are getting worse, the more drivers are planning things.”
20,000 teachers in Nigeria face getting sacked after failing test meant for 10-year-olds
More than 20,000 teachers in Nigeria are facing the sack after failing competency tests designed for children aged ten. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has backed the plan in the northern Kaduna state and branded the situation ‘tragic’.
He said: ‘It is a very very serious situation when teachers cannot pass the exam they are supposed to teach the children to pass. Is a very tragic situation we are in.’ Kaduna Governor Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai tweeted the test results of the primary teachers last week. He asked the public: ‘Would you allow someone like this to each your child.’
The Governor said teachers who were marked below 75% will be sacked but they can re-apply if they can improve their grades. The BBC reported least 19,000 applications had already been received to replace the teachers who will be sacked. Labour unions opposed the plans to sack the teachers and branded the move ‘propaganda’.
UN children’s agency Unicef found Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. Around ten million children have no access to basic education in Nigeria and Unicef described the education system as beset by poor teachers with a lack of proper facilities.
He said: ‘It is a very very serious situation when teachers cannot pass the exam they are supposed to teach the children to pass. Is a very tragic situation we are in.’ Kaduna Governor Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai tweeted the test results of the primary teachers last week. He asked the public: ‘Would you allow someone like this to each your child.’
The Governor said teachers who were marked below 75% will be sacked but they can re-apply if they can improve their grades. The BBC reported least 19,000 applications had already been received to replace the teachers who will be sacked. Labour unions opposed the plans to sack the teachers and branded the move ‘propaganda’.
UN children’s agency Unicef found Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. Around ten million children have no access to basic education in Nigeria and Unicef described the education system as beset by poor teachers with a lack of proper facilities.
Monday, November 13, 2017
Video - Italy opens investigation on the death of 26 Nigerian girls
Italy has opened investigations into the death of 26 African girls whose bodies have been found in the Mediterranean Sea this week. A Libyan and an Egyptian were arrested on suspicions of involvement of what Italian official believe could be a murder case.
Nigerian soldier kills captain then commits suicide
A Nigerian Army captain who led an emergency response team was killed in Adamawa State on Sunday, gunned down by a fellow soldier who subsequently took his own life, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
The Army said the tragic incident happened in Chibok, Borno State.
Our sources said a report of the incident has been filed by the Nigerian Army 28 Brigade Headquaters in Mubi, Adamawa State, to the 7 Division Headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Those familiar with the incident said Army captain, T. Mani, was on Sunday morning patrol with other officers when they responded to a distress call that Silas Ninyo, a staff sergeant, was beating civilians at a nearby location.
Upon arrival, Mr. Mani and his team members prevailed on Mr. Ninyo and rescued the civilians from him; but the situation quickly turned fatal when the service men tried to disarm their raging colleague.
Mr. Ninyo opened fire, killing Mr. Mani, authorities said.
The incident occurred at about 12:50 p.m. and the remains of the two soldiers were later deposited at Brigade Medical Centre in Yola, the state capital.
All officers around the brigade have been warned to be on the alert as whole-scale investigation of the incident continued.
The tragedy appears to be the deadliest episode of soldier-on-soldier violence amongst Nigerian troops in recent months, although security analysts believe mutinous attacks are not uncommon.
“Unfortunately, conflict between armed service members is not an unusual occurrence,” said security analyst Mukhtar Dan’Iyan. “Hopefully, escalation to this extent won’t happen again anytime soon as it diminishes professionalism and erodes esprit de corps.”
The incident report said the motives for Mr. Ninyo’s attack on the civilians and the deadly assault on his senior colleague were not immediately clear.
Nigerian Army spokesperson, Sani Usman, did not initially respond to requests for comments.
He however later issued a statement saying the army has raised a board of inquiry to probe the incident.
The statement reads, “The Headquarters of 28 Task Force Brigade, Nigerian Army, has instituted a Board of Inquiry (BOI) to unravel the circumstances surrounding the shooting incident that resulted in the death of an Officer and a Senior Non-Commission Officer (SNCO), deployed on duty at Chibok, Borno State earlier today Sunday, 12th November 2017.
“At about 12.50pm today, the unit received a report that a Staff was seen to be drunk and misbehaving to civilians. An officer was despatched to the scene with a view to bring him back to base. The officer did his best but the SNCO refused several entreaties to calm him and be disarmed by the superior officer. Unfortunately, the Staff Sergeant shot the officer dead and then killed himself.
“Their remains have since been evacuated to a military facility. The BOI is expected investigate the incident and promptly turn in its report and findings in one week.
“The Nigerian Army is a disciplined and professional force with zero tolerance for any acts of indiscipline and misdemeanor.
“The death of the officer and the Staff Sergeant is painful and a great loss to the unit and the Nigerian Army.”
Adamawa State has witnessed renewed Boko Haram attacks in recent weeks, with Boko Haram killing scores in successive attacks on Madagali Local Government Area amidst fears that the insurgents might have returned to areas that were amongst the earliest to be liberated during the 2014 and 2015 military offensive.
The Army said the tragic incident happened in Chibok, Borno State.
Our sources said a report of the incident has been filed by the Nigerian Army 28 Brigade Headquaters in Mubi, Adamawa State, to the 7 Division Headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Those familiar with the incident said Army captain, T. Mani, was on Sunday morning patrol with other officers when they responded to a distress call that Silas Ninyo, a staff sergeant, was beating civilians at a nearby location.
Upon arrival, Mr. Mani and his team members prevailed on Mr. Ninyo and rescued the civilians from him; but the situation quickly turned fatal when the service men tried to disarm their raging colleague.
Mr. Ninyo opened fire, killing Mr. Mani, authorities said.
The incident occurred at about 12:50 p.m. and the remains of the two soldiers were later deposited at Brigade Medical Centre in Yola, the state capital.
All officers around the brigade have been warned to be on the alert as whole-scale investigation of the incident continued.
The tragedy appears to be the deadliest episode of soldier-on-soldier violence amongst Nigerian troops in recent months, although security analysts believe mutinous attacks are not uncommon.
“Unfortunately, conflict between armed service members is not an unusual occurrence,” said security analyst Mukhtar Dan’Iyan. “Hopefully, escalation to this extent won’t happen again anytime soon as it diminishes professionalism and erodes esprit de corps.”
The incident report said the motives for Mr. Ninyo’s attack on the civilians and the deadly assault on his senior colleague were not immediately clear.
Nigerian Army spokesperson, Sani Usman, did not initially respond to requests for comments.
He however later issued a statement saying the army has raised a board of inquiry to probe the incident.
The statement reads, “The Headquarters of 28 Task Force Brigade, Nigerian Army, has instituted a Board of Inquiry (BOI) to unravel the circumstances surrounding the shooting incident that resulted in the death of an Officer and a Senior Non-Commission Officer (SNCO), deployed on duty at Chibok, Borno State earlier today Sunday, 12th November 2017.
“At about 12.50pm today, the unit received a report that a Staff was seen to be drunk and misbehaving to civilians. An officer was despatched to the scene with a view to bring him back to base. The officer did his best but the SNCO refused several entreaties to calm him and be disarmed by the superior officer. Unfortunately, the Staff Sergeant shot the officer dead and then killed himself.
“Their remains have since been evacuated to a military facility. The BOI is expected investigate the incident and promptly turn in its report and findings in one week.
“The Nigerian Army is a disciplined and professional force with zero tolerance for any acts of indiscipline and misdemeanor.
“The death of the officer and the Staff Sergeant is painful and a great loss to the unit and the Nigerian Army.”
Adamawa State has witnessed renewed Boko Haram attacks in recent weeks, with Boko Haram killing scores in successive attacks on Madagali Local Government Area amidst fears that the insurgents might have returned to areas that were amongst the earliest to be liberated during the 2014 and 2015 military offensive.
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