Lagosians have continued to fume as Lagos bus drivers increase fares as a result of the fuel scarcity in the state.
Checks by Newsbreak Nigeria on Tuesday revealed that commuters moving from Berger to Ikeja axis of the state were made to pay almost double the usual amount to move from Berger to Ikeja. Similarly in Ogba axis, Lagosians were made to pay extra to move from Ogba to Berger and other areas.
Going from Berger to Ikeja used to cost N300 before the shortage, but as of Tuesday morning, drivers who ply the route were charging a N500 flat rate to transport passengers. Similar to this, it used to cost N100 to get from Ogba to Berger, but due to the shortage, commuters now had to spend N150 to N200.
Seyifunmi Keshinro an intern at a tech company in Ikeja who seemed to be at the bus park waiting for a driver that will charge lesser than the new price expressed displeasure at the development.
He told Newsbreak Nigeria that the new price had surpassed his budget for transportation.
“This N500 price is more than what i had planned for. Initially i had budgeted N300 to take me to Ikeja from Berger on a daily basis, had to move it up to N400 when i realized things had gone south on Monday, now this,” he said.
He, however, called on the government to address the lingering fuel scarcity so as to make life a bit easier for Lagosians.
On his part, Ikechukwu, a mobile phone dealer at the computer village lamented the rate at which bus drivers were taking advantage of the fuel scarcity.
He said bus drivers were always looking for the slightest opportunity to hike bus fare.
“Why are they increasing the bus price, they’ve not removed subsidy it is only that fuel is scarce at the moment,” he said. ” Most of these people are still buying at regular price but will always want to extort hardworking Lagosians because they have the opportunity to.”
However on the contrary, a bus driver who chose to remain anonymous explained that the reason for the increment in the price of fare was because filling stations were selling above the N165/N170 approved price.
Further justifying the increment, he told Newsbreak Nigeria that most drivers spend most of their day looking for where to buy fuel and as such must make up for the time spent looking for fuel.
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