By Mitaire Ikpen
ABUJA—Most civil servants and workers in federal ministries, departments and agencies in Abuja are yet to resume at their duty posts, as many are reportedly still stranded in their hometowns after the yuletide festivities owing to the prevailing hike in transportation fares nationwide.

Workers were few in some offices visited yesterday at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, while others were locked.

The situation was not different at the old secretariat in Area 1, where the Interior, Trade and Investment, and Water Resources ministries are situated.

Some of the workers who spoke to Vanguard, described the situation as unusual. They attributed the development to the hike in fares across the country occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.

At the Federal Secretariat, a civil servant told Vanguard: “Many of our colleagues have not returned from the Christmas and New Year celebrations. They are trapped in their villages because they cannot afford the unexpected increase in fares as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy.

“Some of my colleagues have called to say they are stranded because the fares back to Abuja were far beyond what they had budgeted for before leaving.”

According to another civil servant at the Ministry of Health, “two of my relatives who are civil servants are now stuck with their families even in nearby Anyangba, Kogi State.”

“They can’t even return to work in Abuja because the transport fare has gone up to N5,000 from N1,400 and they are there with their children who school in Abuja. I just wonder how and when they will return.”