Some of travellers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, have now resorted to night journeys in order to cut down expenses as they prepare for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
The Daily Trust reporter who visited some bus terminals in parts of the FCT reports that some commuters were left stranded due to the sudden increase in transportation fares.
Our findings revealed that the fare to Sokoto, in the northern part of the country, at the Jabi Motor park as at Sunday for day-time was N21,000, while from Utako to Kano costs N16,000 for saloon cars.
Also, the fares from Utako to Aba, Owerri and Port Harcourt route have been increased to N63,000 to N65,000 for day-time travel a seat; for night journey, the fare costs between N15,000 and N20,000 depending on type of vehicle.
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The transport fare from Utako and Jabi to Plateau State in the past three weeks was N7,500 to N8,000. A visit to the terminal on Sunday, however, showed an increase to N12,000 for coaster bus.
Some of the travellers who spoke to our reporter, expressed disappointment over the situation while pointing accusing finger at the policies of the present administration.
Miss Stella Nantap, who is travelling from Jabi Motor Park to Jos, the Plateau State capital, said, “I have already budgeted for the transport fare to and from, but with the increase, I have no choice than to take some part of the money budgeted for coming back to pay for one part of the trip.
“With this, many people may not be able to travel. As you can see, the crowd here is of people bargaining for a fair price.”
On his part, Stanley Uwalaka described the situation as the survival of fittest, adding that the option left for him, is to travel by night to cut down expenses.
He expressed frustration over the hike in fares and asked the government to review its policies.
“What I paid now has doubled times two of what I paid last year to Abia State. Honestly, we need immediate intervention from our leaders.”
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