Commuters in Abakaliki on Wednesday, called on the state government and other relevant agencies to prevail on transportation firms operating in the area to reduce their fares.
They made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki.
NAN reports that the call came against the background of hike in transportation fares from the state capital to other towns and states in the country as witnessed in the last yuletide.
NAN investigation showed that fare from Abakaliki to Benin had risen to N3,500, as against N 2,500; to Port Harcourt, N3,500 instead of N2,200 and Onitsha N1,900 rather than N1,200.
Mr Augustus Nnachi, a student said he had had to pay double to be able to get back to school saying that the development did not augur well for his financial condition.
“Government and other relevant agencies should help to subsidise the cost of transportation, especially now that the festival period is over, so we can get to our destinations, “he said.
Mr Daniel Eke, another commuter, said the hike in fares had disorganised his projection and pleaded with the state government to address the situation.
“Things are difficult now in terms of the prices of both goods and services, so government should address this situation as a way of helping the people”,he urged.
Mrs Osiati Jude, also a house wife, while acknowledging the government for the free transport initiative, appealed that destinations covered by the initiative be extended to cover other parts of the country.
She said that the gesture would enable those who had not benefited from the programme do so.
“I appreciate Gov.David Umahi on this kind gesture and plead for extension to other states and also in conveying passengers back to their destinations, ” she said.
A manager in one of the transport companies at the park, who gave his name simply as Mr Faith, claimed that the increase in transport fares was due to general increase in the prices of goods and services in the country,
He said that transporters should not be singled out for blame.
“We got new buses sold to us at N21 million, as against N9 million; this is why there has been this slight increase in transport fares”, he said.
However, another respondent who spoke on the condition of anonymity, expressed optimism that the fare would fall to normal in a short while.
He said that the hike was triggered by the general increase in the prices of goods and service in the economy.
NAN reports that the fare hike was a common phenomenon in many parks visited involving both private transport firms and the ones under the umbrella of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). (NAN)