Enugu Passengers Flood Mbah’s Bus Terminals Ahead Of Christmas

Enugu passengers, Tuesday, turned out en masse at Holy Ghost Bus Terminal to board state-owned CNG buses.

THE WHISTLER observed a large turnout of passengers, some of them returning from other states of the federation.

Some of the passengers who spoke with our correspondent gave varying reasons for the patronage. “My husband specifically directed that we (the wife and their two kids) board ‘Peter Mbah bus'”, Monica Eya, returning from Warri with her kids, said. “I’m made to believe that the buses are fitted with security gadgets. The road to Nsukka is threatened, so these buses are safer. I appreciate efforts being made to flush out the miscreants from that road.

“For your question, I entered the bus for security reasons. I also enjoy the cheapness of their fares. With N1,500, I’m in Nsukka. Kudos. Sienna buses are calling N3,500 and above. ‘Mbah buses’ are also air-conditioned. I’m satisfied.”

While Mrs Eya expressed joy over the transport scheme,John Ogbonna, retuning from Awka to Nsukka, said the transport scheme “lacks coordination under pressure”.

Quoting him, “I waited for over an hour queuing up. They don’t know how to manage crowd, maybe because this is the first passenger upsurge. They limit their buses per loading. They should allow passengers to tap their fare cards to board instead of making them line up to enter one bus at a time. I’m disappointed.”

Our correspondent observed that in the middle of ensuing chaos due to passenger pressure, the management began to issue passengers numbers to enhance their entrance.

A commercial driver, Johnson Uwakwe, said they were the victims of the state transport scheme.

He said, “We were forced to be loading in the same terminal as these state CNG buses. Passengers abandon us once they hear the cheaper price of these state buses. We are suffering.”