JEDDAH, 1 August — Taxi drivers in Jeddah reportedly refuse to take passengers at night to areas which they claim are made dangerous by gun-toting illegal immigrants.
In a report carried by Al-Madinah Arabic newspaper recently, many drivers claimed that they had been attacked and robbed by unidentified assailants wielding various weapons in districts like Quwaiza, Kilo 14, Kilo 10 and Samir.
Director of Jeddah Police Brig. Saleh Al-Olayyan said he was aware of a number of such cases, but added that they were isolated cases.
He said police had rounded up several illegal aliens and violators of iqama and labor regulations from those districts. Most of them were drug addicts, he added.
Habib Shah Muhammad, a taxi driver, said a 20-year-old youth had asked him to take him to Kilo 14 late in the night saying his mother was ill.
“He asked me to drive to a place away from residential quarters. When we reached there, two people were waiting for us. They snatched SR250 — my whole day’s collection — from my pocket,” he said, adding that he could not recognize the criminals because it was dark.
Another driver, Sajed Farouk, has a different story to recount. He drove a client to the southern housing district. “When we arrived there, the man took out a gun and asked me to give him all the money in my pocket,” Farouk said. He was also warned against complaining to the police.
Kazim Ali took his client to Quwaiza after fixing a charge in advance because he did not want an argument later. When he reached the area with his passenger, five armed people were waiting for them. They took SR450 from his purse. He was lucky to get back his iqama and driving license; some robbers also take away such documents to make money by forging them.
Ali said he had had similar experience thrice before — at Muntazahat, Kilo 10 and Kilo 14. “Every time, the robbers not only took my money but also tortured me. When I told my company about this, they asked me why do I take such passengers,” Ali said.
Zafir Iqbal did not suspect any danger when a teenager asked him for a lift from Balad to Kilo 14. But when they reached the destination, he was surrounded by four youths wielding knives. “By the grace of God, I escaped from the gangsters somehow.”
Abdul Nasir Sadeeq, another driver, said his problem was overstayers who do not want to pay.
Muhammad Jaseem said he had never taken any client to Quwaiza or Kilo 14 after five people robbed him after he was asked to stop at a dark area.
Hasan Qandeel, an accountant at a taxi company, recounted many incidents of attacks against his drivers, especially in Quwaiza and Kilo 14 districts. Another company official said a gang had beaten up a driver before robbing him and damaging his car.
