A Halifax taxi driver says he feared for his life as he was attacked and then robbed of his cab by two passengers in the city’s south end Thursday morning.

Mokonin Fayiso picked up the couple on Spring Garden Road and was suspicious of them from the start, so he asked for the fare up front.

He says they gave him the money, but as he neared their destination, they claimed they had overpaid.

“I showed them, this is money you gave me, $10, not $20,” says Fayiso. “She come from behind me, she beat me like this.”

Fearing for his safety, Fayiso pulled over, stopped the cab and started to run.

“At that time I’m shaking, my heart is beating…it is scary.”

The suspects then drove off in the vehicle, which police later found on Olivet Street.

Police executed a search warrant at an apartment on Olivet Street Thursday morning and arrested a 31-year-old man and 24-year-old woman in connection with the robbery.

Shane McAllister and Niyoka West are facing charges of robbery and breaches of court orders.

Fayiso was not injured and the cab is back in his possession.

He says he has worked in other cities where drivers are required to install a barrier of some kind between the front and back seats. It is not mandated in Halifax, but is an option.

“A number of years ago the province, the Department of Labour said ‘we want you to install plexiglass under the same labour laws as hard hats at a construction site and safety boots,’” says Dave Buffett, president of the Taxi Drivers Association.

But Buffett says most drivers don’t want the plexiglass barrier, instead preferring to be able to chat with passengers.

While police say attacks on taxi drivers are rare, Buffett isn’t surprised by Thursday’s incident.

“Assaults on cab drivers, robberies of cab drivers are just routine. We expect it,” says Buffett.

“To that extent, it’s not something we’re seeing very often,” says Halifax Regional Police Const. Pierre Bourdages. “It’s of great concern, given the cab drivers are doing everybody in this city a service.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell