Some intending travellers in Lagos boycotted travelling for the Sallah celebrations and sent parcels to their relatives in different parts of the country due to the increase in transpoart fares.
Some of the passengers lamented over the increase in fare while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria’s (NAN) correspondent who visited different garages in Lagos to monitor movements on Tuesday.
One of the intended passengers at a garage in Ijora, Mrs Tawakalitu Adio, said she decided to send parcels to her relatives due to hike transportation fares.
“I am a tailor in Agbara along Badagry Expressway and wanted to travel to Esie in Kwara with four children but I couldn’t due to ridiculous fares.
“I thought the fare will be like N5,000 per person but to my surprise, the price is N11,500 per person which is more than the money I budgeted for.
“I saw some people sending parcels, then I asked if I could also send without going to Kwara, then we chose the option.
“I sent many items to my relatives who will be burying her mother after salah with N6,000. I am now going back home to celebrate salah with my children in Agbara,” Adio said.
Another traveler, Mr Moshood Adeyemi, said he sent clothes to his loved ones in Oro in Kwara due to the high fare on transportation.
Adeyemi, who is a tailor, said although he had been preparing for the trip but he lost his savings to scammers when the naira redesign policy was announced.
A passenger at Emirate Park in Ijora, Mrs Fatimoh Razak, said she boarded a 14-seater bus for N10,000 with her two children making it N30,000.
Razak said she was determined to travel for salah celebration and had been saving money and she thanked God for making it possible for her.
At Ojota garage, a passenger, Mr Yusuf Ishola, said she left Ijora hoping to get cheap transport at Ojota saying that the price was the same N10,000 each for 18-passenger bus.
Another passenger at Ojota garage, Mr Rufai Salami, said transportation to Ibadan too was on the high side.
He said they boarded a Toyota Sienna bus to Ibadan for N7,000 per passenger while some buses collected N5,000 due to the subsidy removed on the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
In his response, the Chairman, Emirate Park, Iso-Arin Ijora, Alhaji Omotoso Eledie, said that they were not happy with the increase in fare adding that they had no choice due to increase in petrol.
Eledie said that few buses were able to travel with passengers and that the increase on fare sent many passengers back home.
“We buy fuel for N530 and above, the traffic on the road was not encouraging too.
“We appreciated the Government for rehabilitating Lagos to Ilorin road but they should release some line portion to ease the traffic because many vehicles travel at the same time.
“We charged N4,000 to Lagos in 2022 and we are carrying it now for N10,000 due to subsidy removal.
“Mechanics have also increased prices of their services while motor spare parts prices have gone up beyond expectations,”
