Passengers travel in trailers, trucks as fuel scarcity worsens in Lafia Benin travellers decry increased fare
Fuel scarcity has continued to bite hard in Lafia, Nasarawa state as fuel now sells between N230 and N250 per litre in few operating filling stations.
The situation has compelled hundreds of passengers to travel in trailers and trucks.
Transport fares have skyrocketed in most motor parks, as Lafia to Abuja which was N800 is now between N2000 to N2500. Lafia to Shendam which was N600 before the scarcity is now N1500, while the Jos to Lafia route fare has doubled.
When our correspondent visited Akurba motor park in Lafia yesterday, hundreds of passengers were stranded, as they waited endlessly for vehicles, forcing many to opt for the trailers and trucks as they were cheaper and more readily available.
Our correspondent witnessed hundreds loaded into a trailer at N500 to Shendam, Namu axis, and another truck loaded with mostly women and children to the same axis for N300 to N500.
A passenger who gave her name as Regina going to Shendam, told Daily Trust that she waited for three hours without getting a taxi to transport her and two children to Kwande in Shendam. “I have paid N500 for me and another N500 for my two children in this truck,” she said.
Another passenger, Simon Daniel who boarded a trailer to Shendam, said, “I am going to Shimankar village in Shendam. I paid N2500 from Abuja to Lafia. I have been here since 9am without the normal commercial taxis to Shendam. I am joining the trailer as alternative to reach my destination.”
In Edo State, travellers at the various motor parks in the state capital, Benin, yesterday lamented the increase in transport fare occasioned by the worsening fuel crisis.
Passengers at different motor parks lamented that transportation fare had been increased between 20 and 70 percent.
At the Muyi Line Transport Company, a passenger who identified himself as John, said transport fare from Benin to Auchi had increased from N1,200 to N2,000, attributing the development to the rise in fuel pump price to between N180 and N230.
At God is Good Motor, transport fare for the BeninAbuja route was increased from N5000 to N6500.
A passenger, Gideon Christopher, lamented the increase. “I am going to Kaduna, and I paid N6,500 to Abuja instead of N5000 and I don’t even know how much I will spend to reach Kaduna,” he said.