Taxi thieves at Bole International Airport

To all those travelling into addis ababa, you need to be aware of a new syndicate by Taxi drivers.

I was travelling from Johannesburg last Thursday and arrived around 8:40pm. As I walked out of the airport I went to look for a Taxi. Most of you would know apps like UBER, BOLT etc that have registered Taxis under them. Here in ethiopia there is one called RIDE which has very good cheap rates. So as you go out Taxi drivers will approach you showing you there phone which will have a photo of RIDE(See attached photo). I went ahead and picked one from there who took me to his car. Upon reaching the car which was just an ordinary old Toyota corolla, he started packing my bags inside. He also got my small bag which had my electrical gadgets in it wanting to pack with the rest of the laggage I had. I refused saying this one I will hold it myself coz it had delicate things inside.I entered the car in front and sat down .when he sat on his drivers seat he quickly reached out for my small bag saying you need to be comfortable there is space for the bag behind. He took the bag and put it behind. When starting the trip, a RIDE registered driver will ask you for your contact number so that they put it into the app so that the trip can begin. But instead he went on to start a different app called FERES, which I refused saying you showed me a RIDE app thats why I followed you.why do you want to use an app I dont know, then he said he had no money in the Ride app, a sign that I didnt read at first to say there is something fishy about him. After I demanded for him to use the Ride app, he says ok check amount on the ride app and thats what we will settle for. I checked and we agreed to settle for the ride amount. After I arrived home, he quickly dropped my laggage and quickly drove off,  the Zip for the small bag was open and  alot of stuff that was in the bag was missing. I then realised why he was acting so weird.  He knew what he was doing.

I urge you to always insist on using a registered RIDE vehicle. Let the driver log into the app and insert you mobile number which you will then receive an sms to show that your trip has started. In so doing, once you experience what I experienced, you can follow it up with the Ride company and have your stolen items retrieved.