Surge anticipated on road as offer winds up ,Travelers are contending with high transport fares as they begin to return to their bases ahead of full resumption of business on Monday following the Christmas and New Year festivities.

Despite the free train ride and 50 per cent discount on bus fares offered by the federal government for travellers to and from different parts of the country and the slash in fuel prices by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Dangote Refinery in the spirit of the period, travellers are made to pay through the nose by private road transport operators.

Our correspondents report that intra city transport fares are also still high.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Adeleye Adeoye told The Nation yesterday that the Federal Government’s initiative was a huge success.

Travellers accused road transport operators of deliberately making life tough for commuters who must find the money to go back to their bases.

Many of those who travelled to the South East from Lagos and the North in particular have had to resort to night bus for their return trip to save cost.

This is particularly so at Milverton, Aba which is a terminal for major commercial transport companies.

For instance, Aba to Abuja by Sienna car which normally costs ₦35,000 now costs ₦50,000, while Abuja by Hummer bus now hovers between ₦35,000 and ₦60,000 from N25,000.

Passengers from Aba to Lagos pay between ₦55,000 and ₦57,000 while night bus is ₦30,500 and ₦60,000 to Abuja.

Lagos to Aba before Christmas was ₦36,500 per head.

Sources at the park said the fares would even increase by next week when more holiday makers are expected to return to their businesses.

Inter- state fares are not better with travellers paying N4000 from Aba to Uturu as against the usual ₦3,000, while journeys to Onitsha and Nnewi cost ₦6,000 from ₦5,000.

A mini bus trip from Ebonyi was ₦30,700 as of yesterday and between N20,000 and N23,000 for luxury buses.

A road trip from Asaba, the Delta State capital to Warri, its commercial nerve centre, has skyrocketed to ₦10,500 from between N5,000 and N6,000.

At Koka junction in Asaba, Delta Line charges N8,500 from Asaba to Warri while Agofure Transport Company charges N8,500 for a similar trip to Warri.

Asaba to Benin is now ₦8,000 from ₦7,000.

A trip to Owerri from Asaba costs ₦8,000 up from ₦4,000, while fares from Asaba to Akwa, Anambra state capital costs ₦2,500 from ₦1,000.

The situation is not different in Kano where a trip from the Ungwan Uku Motor Park to Lagos now costs between ₦25,000 and N30,000 from ₦20,000.

From the Sambisa Park in the same city, a trip to Lagos is ₦35,000.

Kano to Dutse ,Jigawa State which used to range between ₦2,000 and N2,500 has gone up to N3,000 while Kano to Katsina is now ₦4,000 from N3,000.

Kano to Abuja is between ₦13,000 and ₦15,000 from ₦8,000 to ₦10,000 before.

Kano to Akure was ₦25,000 before Christmas but is now N30,000 while Kano to Port Harcourt has risen from ₦28,000 to ₦32,000.

At the luxury bus park, Sambisa, Kano to Onitsha has increased from ₦33,500 to ₦50,500.

©CDA News