Yuletide: Groups raise alarm over high cost of transport to southeast, south-south
- Concerned groups have cried out over the increased cost of transportation for people traveling to the southeast and south-south to celebrate the yuletide
- The Ndigbo Unity Forum has urged the federal government to cushion the hardship on Nigerians this season by regulating the amount charged as fares by transporters nationwide
- The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has also appealed to the NURTW and RTEAN to caution their members against arbitrary increase in transport fares
Concerned groups have decried the high rise in transport fares for travelers returning home to the southeast and south-south regions to celebrate the Christmas and New Year festivities.
A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who checked at some popular bus parks in Enugu on Sunday, December 30, observed that a trip from Lagos or Abuja to Enugu cost between N8,000 and N10,000 for Toyota Hummer Buses.
Legit.ng gathers that in luxury (long) buses from Lagos, Abuja to Enugu, it currently cost between N7,000 and N8,000. People returning from Kano to Enugu in luxury buses pay between N12,800 and N13,500 currently.
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However, earlier before yuletide, returning to the southeast from any location in Lagos and Abuja was between N4,000 and N5,000; while returning from Kano in luxury buses to the southeast was between N7,000 and N8,000.
Reacting, a pan-Igbo group, Ndigbo Unity Forum (NUF), urged the federal government through the Ministry of Transports, to cushion the hardship on Nigerians this season by regulating the amount charged as fares by transporters nationwide.
The president of NUF, Augustine Chukwudum, noted that the group was bitter against transport owners who had increased their fares by 100 percent.
“We are calling on government both at the federal and state levels to checkmate the excesses of transport companies who castrate people financially during festive periods," Chukwudum said.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) also appealed to the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) to caution their members against arbitrary increase in transport fares.
NANS’ national public relations officer, Bestman Okereafor, said that the national leaderships of NURTW and RTEAN as a matter of urgency, should review the high cost by their members across the federation.
“We see no reason why transportation fares should be inflated when there is no fuel scarcity at all in the country," Okereafor said.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Ndigbo Unity Forum (NUF) lauded the federal government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the availability of fuel in the southeast during the yuletide.
The NUF president, Augustine Chukwudum, said: “NUF wishes to commend the federal government, especially President Muhammadu Buhari, for ensuring that Nigerians do not face hardship and disasters associated with fuel scarcity.
“We also commend the NNPC for making sure that the nation does not experience fuel shortage at petrol stations nationwide, especially in the south-east, as it used to be in past years during the yuletide. We are happy that those who traveled this time around to their various villages, communities and states have no complaint about fuel."
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Source: Legit.ng
