24th December, 2014
As Nigerians travel to various locations across the country for Christmas celebration, transporters on Tuesday hiked transport fares at different motor parks in Enugu.
Investigations at various parks in the Coal City, revealed that there was an increase in the transport fares at Holy Ghost Park.
The fare from Enugu to Abuja, which was N2,600 per passenger before the yuletide, now goes for N3,200.
The fare from Enugu to Lagos which was formally N3,600 per passenger, has been pegged at N4,100.
The fare from Enugu to Onitsha which was N520 now goes for N850.
A passenger at Onitsha South Park, Matthew Olisa, said there was an increase of N330 in the cost of transportation from Enugu to Onitsha.
“I am a regular passenger at this motor park. Last week I paid N520 to Onitsha but today (Tuesday), passengers were asked to pay N850.
A commuter at Peace Park, Joseph Onyema, said that the increase in the cost of transportation was expected because it was a usual occurrence during festive periods.
Mr. Edwin Ugwu, a driver, who plies the Enugu-Lagos route, said the reason for the increase was that few passengers boarded their vehicles in Enugu to different locations during Christmas period.
“We usually have few passengers that travel from Enugu to Lagos during this season; so we have to recover the cost of running our vehicles while going to Lagos and back to Enugu during this period,” he said.
However, a driver, who pleaded anonymity, said that the transport fare would by Wednesday come down in Enugu. He said it would increase by January 2015, when people would be going back to various states where they came from for the yuletide.
He said it was a booming season for the transport business, adding that every business had its prosperous period.