Samuel Awoyinfa
Abeokuta

Commuters travelling on both intra and intercity routes in major cities in Ogun State, groaned on Friday, as commercial vehicle operators increase fares virtually on all routes, due to the current scarcity of the Premium Motor Spirit popularly know as petrol.

The increase on the both intra and intercity routes ranged between 50 and over 100 per cent.

A trip from Sango-Ota to Abeokuta which hitherto costs between N300 and N400, saw the commercial drivers charging commuters between N700 and N800.

Transport fare from Mowe to Abeokuta that used to be N400 had jumped to N1000.

Also from Sagamu to Abeokuta, the transport fare had jumped from N400 to N800.

A commuter, Mrs Kemi Olawale, who travelled from Mowe to Abeokuta for a social function on Friday told our correspondent that she paid N1,000.

She lamented that it was not easy to pay that additional N600, she called on the Federal Government to intervene and do something in solving the fuel scarcity.

She said, “From Mowe, we used to pay N400 to Abeokuta, but this morning it has increased to N1,000 due to fuel scarcity.

“Paying that extra N600 is not easy. And for a return trip, that is additional N1,200. This is too much.”

Also Mr. Lekan Adewoye, who came into Abeokuta from Abeokuta from Sagamu, also gave a tale of woes.

He said despite that he had to pay N800 for a trip that should be between N300 and N400, he had to scramble at the terminus with other passengers to secure a seat.

He said, “Despite the fact that I had to N800 for a trip that hitherto cost between N300 and N400, I had to scramble for a seat with other commuters at the terminus in Sagamu. For how long will this suffering continue?”

Also Alhaja Aminat Hussein told our correspondent that she paid N700 for a trip from Abeokuta to Ilaro.

She said the trip before the fuel scarcity costs between N300 and N400.

“It is not easy having to pay extra N400 for a trip that is less than an hour, ” she lamented.

Commuters travelling on intra-city routes such as Brewery to Oke Ilewo, Oke Ilewo to Kuto, and Pansheke to Kuto among others also suffered fare increase of between 50 and 100 per cent.

Meanwhile, long queues were seen in many filling stations in the capital city, Sango-Ota, Ifo and Ijebu Ode among others.

Punchng