Some passengers who could not travel from Taraba State to some neighboring states and other southern parts of the country, have expressed their displeasure and called on the federal government to address the issue of fuel scarcity in the interest of the masses.
They made their positions while speaking with Radio Nigeria Correspondent in Jalingo who visited some motor parks in the state capital.
When Radio Nigeria visited Jalingo main motor park located at the roadblock, TSTC, and Danfullo motor parks all along Jalingo-Yola road in the state capital gathered that there were no commercial vehicles available for travelers especially those that are traveling outside the state.
Some passengers who spoke with our reporter said they were stranded with their families and luggage, a situation they described as worrisome and attributed it to the inadequate commercial vehicles at the parks as a result of fuel scarcity as well as the hike in the price of the product.
The passengers who preferred anonymity also revealed that they were at the park for over seven (7) hours while some said they even spent the night at the motor but could not get a vehicle that will take them to their various locations to enable them to celebrate the new year with their people.
Commenting on the matter, the Taraba State Deputy Chairman of the NURTW and also the chairman of Jalingo main motor park branch one, Alhaji Sani Hamman Gabdo Mafindi, and his counterpart of branch two, Alhaji Danjuma Hayatu said as a result of the scarcity and the hike in the price of fuel forced the Union to make a minimal increase in the cost of transportation.
They said that the union increased one thousand naira for a long-distance journey like from Jalingo to Abuja, from six to seven thousand naira which should have been up to Fifteen thousand naira.
Also Lagos, Kano, and Maiduguri from two hundred to five hundred naira for short-distance journeys in sympathy to the hard condition of life of the people.
Alhaji Sani Mafindi advised Passengers to always enter vehicles inside motor parks for security reasons, while Alhaji Danjuma Hayatu also appealed to the federal government to purchase buses for members of the Taraba branch of the NURTW on loan bases and the union would recover it for them.
The two union leaders noted that the proactive measures of regular meetings with members on careful driving had produced fruitful results and expressed gratitude to God for safety, as there was no report of any accident during the festive period.
However, also Alh. Sani Mafindi urged Nigerians to be prayerful for God to change the hardships facing the people for the better and consider all the problems bedeviling the country as trials.
The Chairman of branch two, Alh. Danjuma Hayatu while appreciating the journalists for entering nooks and crannies to listen to the plight of the masses appealed to them to always ensure professionalism in their reportage and avoid anything that would cause conflict in the nation.
“Especially now that we are in election period, which very soon elections will hold, so please am begging you the journalists to report things that would not cause chaos because if any crisis starts the drivers and travelers are always at the receiving end, the moment somebody hears anything on radio or read on paper, that is when people will start blocking high ways and start killing innocent ones,” he emphasized.
Sani Sulaiman