As Nigerians travel to various locations across the country for Eid-el Kabir celebration, transporters on Monday in Abuja hiked up fares at the various motor parks in the city.
An investigation by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) showed increases of between 20 and 25 per cent in transport fares at Jabi and Utako parks in Abuja.
The fare for Abuja to Lokoja, which attracted N1,500 per passenger before the Sallah festival, now goes for N2, 000 per passenger.
The fare for a journey from Abuja to Kaduna is relatively stable, when compared to the situation in September.
A passenger at Jabi Park, Hajia Meimuna Adamu, said that there was an increase of N300 in the cost of transportation from Abuja to Kano.
“I paid N2,700 to Kano last week but today, they are charging every passenger N3,000. The transporters are always increasing their fares during festive periods.’’
The cost of transportation from Abuja to Lagos increased from N4,500 to N5,550 at Utako
A commuter at the park, Mr Dayo Adeyemi, said that the increase in the cost of transportation was expected because it was a usual occurrence during festive periods.
Adeyemi said that the transport fare from Abuja to Ibadan before the festival was N4,000, adding that it had been increased to N4,550.
Mr Abubakar Idris, a driver, who plies the Abuja-Kano route, defended the increase in cost of transportation during festive periods.
“We usually have full passengers to Kano during Sallah but few passengers will come on board from Kano to Abuja.
“We have to recover the cost of running our vehicles back to Abuja during this period.’’
Mr Muhammad Ekuku, a driver, who plies the Abuja-Ankpa route, also noted that at the beginning of festive periods, many people travelled from Abuja to Ankpa, while few people travelled from Ankpa to Abuja.
Meanwhile, the prices of ingredients have increased, as Abuja residents on Monday made last-minute shopping for the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
A survey conducted in some markets by NAN showed that some commodities that witnessed noticeable increases in their prices include tomatoes, onions, groundnut oil, palm oil, pepper, among others.
A basket of tomatoes, which sold for N800 before, now sells for N1,100.
A basket of onions, which sold for N1,200, now costs N1,500, while a gallon of Turkey vegetable oil, which sold for N1,000, now costs N1,100.
Malam Hassan Mohammed, a pepper seller at the Wuse market, conceded that traders were now selling more goods due to the festive period.
“I have sold three bags of pepper, instead of the only one bag that I used to sell on ordinary days,” he added.
Malam Yusuf Amodu, an onion seller at Utako market, said that a basket of onions, which sold for N800, now costs N1,200.
“You know prices of these condiments always increase during the festive periods.
“We have even made more profit because most workers have just received their salaries and that is making them to patronise us more this year, unlike last year.”
Mr Issa Momoh, a foodstuff seller at Garki market, also said that it was normal for traders to experience high patronage during festive periods.
“Most of the opportunities we have during festivals like this, we will not have after the festivals because people return to buying the items they need for normal consumption and it will lead to low patronage.
“ After Salah, we can stay here from morning till evening without selling half a bag of any product,’’ he said.
Mrs Kuburat Henshal, a buyer, attributed the increase in the prices of some foodstuff to increased demands and the festival.
Mrs Hajara Abubakar, another buyer, said that the prices of some foodstuff, however, remained stable.
