By Adebayo Olodan
Some students and residents of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, who had hitherto planned to spend the yuletide season with their families and loved one outside the state have been left stranded following the sudden increase of transport fare by transporters.
When our reporter visited major motor parks across Ilorin at the weekend, it was observed that
Transport fare had increased by 100 to 200 per cent.
At Sawmill Garage, passengers who hitherto paid between N1, 500 to N2, 500 for a journey to Lagos in bus or car now have to part with between N4,000 to N6,000 for same journey.
Speaking with our reporter, most of the commuters lamented what they called astronomical rise in transport fare calling on government and leadership of transport unions to come to their plight.
Some of the passengers who could afford the fare where noticed rushing into the few available buses and cars while those with ‘lean budget’ were seen returning to their homes and others sitting on their luggage waiting patiently for cheaper alternatives.
The situation was not different at the few motor parks located on Unity Road, Ilorin, where some passengers spent several hours waiting for vehicles.
One of the stranded passengers, a student of Kwara State Polytechnic, Funmilayo Adetunji, blamed the situation on transporters who she claimed are always out to exploit commuters during festive periods.
She said, “In the past, the transporters will hide under the guise of increase in the price of fuel to exploit travelers but now that the price of petrol remains the same, how come they have increased transport fare again this time to unimaginable figure.”
At Eiyenkorin, Asa Local Government Area of the state, an aggrieved female passenger was noticed abusing transport workers after having enduring endless wait.
The passenger, who identified herself as Hajia Fatimah Issah lamented that transporters were taking advantage of what she called non-availability of viable options in the nation’s transport system.
She said, “How does this people expect me to pay the sum of N1,700 as my transport fare to Ibadan. This is a journey that should not take more than 90 mins or at most two hours. Before now, we pay between N400 to N500 for same journey.
“I tell you, these transporters are exploiters and I wouldn’t want to blame them but our government. If the trains were running effectively, I would not need to go through this,” she bemoaned.
In his reaction, a member of the transporters at Eiyenkorin who does not want his name in print said the hike in transport fare was not to exploit anyone but to cover up for the long hours wasted in traffic during the festive period.
“Some of these passengers need to pity us especially those driving the distance to Lagos. Sometimes a journey to Lagos which ordinarily should not exceed four hours now takes about 12 hours. There is traffic gridlock even in Ogun State before you get to Lagos.
“Aside the long hours spent in traffic, you will be surprised that from Lagos, we rarely get passengers back to Ilorin, so, how do we make up for such?”
