Passengers patronising private ferries in Ikorodu, Lagos State, on Monday, groaned about the N1,500 increase in ferry fares from Ikorodu to Lekki in Victoria Island, as well as the hours of delays before a ferry arrived to convey them to their destination.

An X user, with the username Engineer Olamilekan and handle @Engr_Ashile, in a post attached with a picture of a queue at the Ebute Ikorodu terminal, said he was there earlier in the day, where he and other passengers were allegedly delayed for hours before being informed of the fare hike from N3,000 to N4,500 to the Lekki terminal.

Following the fare hike, Mr Olamilekan said he left the ferry and returned home to make use of his car. According to him, it took him 42 minutes to reach Lekki, 20 minutes more than he would have spent if he had boarded the ferry.

He wrote, “The ferry terminal in Ebute Ikorodu did most ppl dirty this morning, from 3,500 to 4k still intentionally delayed us for good 3hrs just to increase it to 4,500, for a trip of 22minutes. Last last I went back home to pick up my car and I spent 42 minutes to Lekki. They can hold their ferry.”

Peoples Gazette reached out to Mr Olamilekan, who disclosed that the private ferry operator he referred to in his post “don’t have a name,” explaining that, “initially it was N3,000, but because of fuel, they increased it to N3,500. On getting there this morning, they said because of fuel again, it’s now N4,000. They now decided to waste our time, and then said okay, they are not going, unless we pay N4,500.”

“I don’t understand why some of them will decide to increase the price and the management or their authorities will not be able to say something about it. Everybody decides their own prices, nobody to caution them. It was very annoying.”

“They decided to play on us because there is no competitor and no regulation from the Lagos State Water Management. Assuming we have it just like we have BRT picking passengers, they would be forced to bring down their price.”

Asked why he doesn’t patronise LagFerry whose fares are cheaper, he said, “LagFerry only has one ferry; they operate only once. Once it goes, it doesn’t return. Assuming they had like two or three ferries, then we are good to go. You need to see the crowd, it was massive.”

Other ferry passengers also shared their unpleasant experiences. An X user with the username Holadurotimi (@Raffnoni) said, “Those ferry guys are really greedy. I stop using it in the morning bcos they love to charge price at any slight convenience and the @TalktoLaswa is doing nothing to regulate price.”

While Jael_51 said, “I was sooooooooo angry this morning. The hike is truly unreasonable. As of when I left the terminal this morning, people were fighting with the attendants,” Livinus O. Francis (Francharles_sw6) stated, “Baiyeku to Ajah did an upward review of fares last week Monday. From 2k to 2,500 unannounced. Everyone kept mute. A journey of 6 minutes.”

Meanwhile, responding to Mr Olamilekan’s complaint, a private boat operator at Ipakodo Ferry Terminal, identified as Ibukun Oyenusi (IbukunOyenusi) on X, while explaining the reason for ferry delays, confirmed the fare increase, blaming the recent hikes in fuel price.

Mr. Oyenusi wrote, “Dear Engr. Olami, I am writing to you as a boat owner in the Ipakodo Ferry Terminal. Firstly, let me apologize for the delay; it was simply caused because the boats cannot return empty to load passengers due to the high cost of fuel.

“Secondly, the increment was well communicated on Saturday evening. We are happy you got to your destination safely. Kindly know that we are not happy with the current situation and didn’t increase the price to cause our customers pain but just to keep the business afloat.”

However, an official of LagFerry, Mary Odofin, responding to an enquiry by The Gazette about the development, stated that the agency has not increased its ferry fares and has retained its price of N2,200, despite the recent fuel price hikes. She added that she is aware private ferry operators last week increased their fares over recent fuel price hikes.

Ms Odofin said, “We’re not the only ferry operating in Ikorodu. We have a lot of private operators operating in Ikorodu ferry terminal, not only LagFerry. Our price still remains the same, we’ve not changed our prices, we don’t change our prices that way. We’re Lagos State officials; we can never change our price just all of a sudden. Our staff don’t have any right to.”