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Travellers and other airport users are currently going through hard
times following the increase in transport fares by shuttle operators at
the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that fares were hiked from
N100 to N150 for all destinations within the airport environment while a
journey to Ikeja from the airport now cost N200 instead of N150.
A NAN Correspondent who monitored the situation on Tuesday observed
that some persons were seen trekking to their destinations due to lack
of commercial vehicles and the increment in fares. Those mostly affected by the increment were cleaners and other low
income earners working within the international airport and the Nigerian
Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) premises.
However, Mr Olalekan Agboola, General Secretary, Airport Cab
Operators, told NAN that they had to increase fares due to the lingering
fuel scarcity in the country.
“The increment is because of the fuel scarcity. We are praying that
the situation presently should return to normal. When everything is okay
the transport fare will also drop. “We are begging the government that it should intervene because people are seriously suffering right now,’’ Agboola said.
A cab operator, Mr Sule Ibrahim, said he queued for several hours to
buy 20 litres of fuel at N4,000 to enable him to work for the day. He said: “We buy fuel at very expensive prices and until the scarcity
ends, we don’t have any option than to increase transport fares.
“We are appealing to government to look into the situation. It is
affecting us negatively because we are spending so much time at petrol
stations’’.
Mrs Ada Imohinmi, a ticket officer at the MMIA, said the situation
was becoming unbearable, especially for low income earners working at
the airport.
“We are really suffering because of this fuel scarcity. I live at Agbado Ijaiye and now I have to leave home very early.
“The cost of transportation not only within the airport has gone up
and yet, my salary is still the same. So, it is not easy to cope,’’ she
added.
On his part, a traveller, Mr Uche Emenike, said he had no choice
other than to pay any amount demanded by the cab operators in order not
to miss his flight.
Emenike said: “From the local airport to the international wing, they
charged me N2,000 instead of the usual N1,500 but I had to pay because I
was a bit late for my flight’’.
Another traveller, Mr Michael Ajayi, appealed to President Muhammadu
Buhari to find a lasting solution to the lingering fuel scarcity.
“I just flew in from Abuja and the fuel situation is the same. The
government should work harder to fulfill the change promises to
Nigerians,’’ he said.
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