The transport fare from Lagos State to Ibadan, Oyo State has been increased by 150% following the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS during the Yuletide.

A Tori News correspondent who visited a popular commercial vehicle park at the Mile 2 area of Lagos State today, Sunday learnt the bus fare to Ibadan now costs a sum of N2,550 which is a sharp deviation from the initial N1,050 charged for the same trip prior to the fuel crisis.

Travelers at the motor park who were in an obvious rush to unite with their family members were seen groaning and m0an!ng from different angles in the Mile 2 vehicle park over the unprecedented hike.

Speaking with our correspondent, the bus driver lamented bitterly about the high cost of petrol as well as its unavailability which has coerced commuters into buying fuel at cut-throat prices.

"What do you expect a commercial driver to do in this case when the fuel price has become too high. I suffered to buy a petrol yesterday at the rate of N200 per litre at a filling station in Ibadan"

"I ended up buying 30 litres for a whooping sum of N6,000. As a businessman, I have no choice than to increase the transport fare to make money"

Passengers who had extra luggage to convey to their various destinations were expensively charged by commercial drivers without any sort of sympathy. A woman who had two big Ghana-Must-Go bags filled with personal effects was charged N1,150 amidst pleas and external intervention by others at the park. Tori News discovered that the excruciating hike in transport fare which has been widespread across Nigeria didn't deter most people from traveling.

"Tomorrow is Christmas and I have to be with my family members in Ibadan after being away for months working in Lagos. I have no choice at all and it is very painful" a middle-aged woman told our correspondent.

A young footballer traveling to Ibadan for a crucial amateur football match was stunned with the hyper-inflated fare as he complained bitterly in shock.
"I can't believe my ears, I only budgeted N1,500 for this trip. The current fare is unbelievable. I don't have much (money) on me" he cried out.

Commercial motorists have been widely accused of seizing the irregular fuel prices to exploit travelers paying through the nose to reach their destinations. Some Lagosians with families in the South-east and South-south part of Nigeria have resolved to stay back due to the astronomical fares.

Promises made by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and other stakeholders to end the crisis of fuel scarcity have proved inadequate as it aggravates unabated.