This mini bus usually takes one passenger in front with the driver and three passengers in each of the two passenger seats behind the driver. Now the problem we sometimes face with this kind of bus was that it seemed so small that the only way there could be a conductor was if he occupied one of the passenger seats and our local drivers will never want that. Greed won't let them. So since there's no conductor, opening and closing the door of the bus has to be done by a passenger. That's another problem because since it's nobody's job to manage the door and the passengers are not used to it, the door ends up injuring passengers or getting damaged because it slams itself shut when the driver hits the breaks and runs back to hit back at its hinges when the bus takes of again.
(image: bay2car.com)
For these reasons the drivers decide to tie up the door of the bus. Now that makes sitting close to the door pretty risky and unsafe. Please don't get me started on why the regulatory and security agencies that are supposed to be handling such matters are not doing anything about this. I remember several months ago I noticed that keke (tricycle cab) riders had removed the protective covers that usually protect the passengers from rain and splashes of water from muddy roads. I had to some of them why this was so. The reason was because it prevented security agents from identifying if criminals were inside the vehicle or if a passenger was being harassed or kidnapped, and so on.
Those are the reasons why whenever I'm in a keke and it rains, I'll get beaten by rain or catch a cold when it's windy because the police or traffic officers want to see my face without asking for door cover to be opened. Who knows, that may still be the same reason they let the mini buses ride along the highway with their doors open and tied.
