Members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in Abuja, FCT, have said that the mode of travelling during this year’s Christmas celebration has been affected by bandit’s activities on some major roads that lead to the Southern part of the country.
The union noted that despite their low fares in comparison to the same period last year, many people were avoiding the journey, and rather were prepared to celebrate the festivity at their bases.
Nuruddeen Ashifat, a booking clerk at the Zuba Motor Park, described the situation as terrible to his members, who according to him, used to make a fortune during such periods.
Speaking weekend during a visit to the motor park, the official said the situation had affected the routes leading to the South East, South South and South West.
He said, “As at 12 today, our first bus to Lagos is yet to depart, and the same experience affects vehicles that head to Enugu and Benin. Once after the first-turn vehicle leaves, passengers would start demanding their paid money as they may not withstand waiting up to the time when the bus would get complete passengers.”
An Abuja-based driver that operates on the Southern routes, Michael Olusoga, said most of the people that used to travel with him during such occasions told him that it was better to celebrate where they lived than embark on a journey and end up being kidnapped on the road.
He said most of the dangerous locations were within Kogi State, that included Ajaokuta-Itope-Anyigba road, as well as Obajana-Kabba and Ebe axes.
Other areas, he added, were Okene-Opela-Auchi road that linked the state with Edo State.
He described the present gridlock that was experienced on the road as artificial, and not as a result of the high number of travellers, caused by the activities of contractors handling the road rehabilitation.
He called on the federal government to compel the contractors to open the rehabilitated portion of the road for travellers, as well as suspend the ongoing project until mid-January next year when the travellers had returned to their respective bases.
He said, “Otherwise, a lot of travellers would spend their night in the bush, which is not safe now, considering the security challenges that have been faced.
The driver expressed happiness about the opening of such rehabilitated road portions on the Abuja-Kaduna highway that took place on Tuesday, which he said had ended gridlock on the way. Salihu Adamu, another union member in the motor park, said the economic situation had also contributed much to the cause of low travelling.
He said the travel fares had not been increased in the park this year, but that despite that, many people could not afford to pay the charges.
He further said, “Tell me, apart from foodstuff, what else’s prices have gone down, and despite the cheapness of the foodstuff, there is no money to buy them because money is no longer available as most people are stagnant.
A passenger at the motor park, Saratutu Ibrahim, who travelled to Abuja from Kano, and was heading to her home town of Okene in Kogi State, said she managed to raise money for the travelling in order to unite with her kinsmen during such occasion despite the fact that she did not have anything to offer to them.
