Bolt stops “cross-border” trips after dispute between Nigeria and South Africa

Online taxi company Bolt has restricted “cross-border” requests between Nigeria and South Africa after rivalry between the two countries reached an all-time high or low on social media, with people booking and then cancelling rides in the other country for fun.

The drivers were pawns in this evil game and were sent on a pointless search for passengers who were not even in the same country.

Munyaradzi Chinyama, a Zimbabwean Bolt driver from Cape Town, told the BBC he received three ride requests before realising they weren’t genuine. He said he wasted a lot of petrol, time and money.

Bolt told the BBC that it had identified and blocked the users involved in this cruel game.

“We understand the impact this situation has had on our driver partners in Nigeria and South Africa,” it said in a statement.

It was said that cross-border requests would continue to work between other countries.

Mr Chinyama told the BBC he had been inundated with abusive messages via Bolt’s messaging feature, which connects drivers with passengers.

He said he had been called various names, including “Mandela’s son.”

It is unclear how this “Bolt War” started, but social media users in sub-Saharan Africa’s two largest economies have long been trolling each other.

“When I’m bored I (Bolt) call Nigeria because their brothers don’t respect us,” said one user on X on Tuesday. This seems to have set off a chain of events, and Nigerians were quick to respond.

An angry Nigerian driver from Kano told the BBC he had received a request for a ride to the airport from an international number, but the person did not show up.

“I kept trying to call, but no one answered. Then they canceled the trip,” he said.

He said he was not the only victim and that many of his colleagues were struggling with similar problems.

Some social media users supported the drivers, saying they were just trying to make a living.

“Uber and Bolt drivers are just trying to make ends meet. They are not trolling anyone on Twitter. They are literally trying to make an honest living. Please leave them alone. And I speak to both sides,” wrote one X user.

A second person said: “The Bolt Challenge pains me because it is innocent and hard-working people on both sides who have to suffer for the wickedness and thoughtlessness of other people. Really unfair.”

In Nigeria, fuel prices have skyrocketed in recent months, with many drivers wasting scarce fuel to pick up customers who don’t even exist.

The Bolt War also reportedly caused prices to rise in both countries, leaving many people stranded because they could not afford their rides.

South Africans and Nigerians often clash on social media.

They last rowed across the Controversy surrounding Miss South Africa in which a half-Nigerian resigned after xenophobic insults.

The two African heavyweights also let their pop stars Tyla and Arya Starr compete against each other and exchanged insults about their national football teams.