Bus terminals busy as Nigeria allows interstate travel

On the first day that Nigerians can travel between states after the Covid-19 restrictions were eased, the bus terminals are bustling.

At the main Abuja bus terminal, Utako Motor Park, lots of commuters were boarding vehicles.

Jabi Park is the largest car and bus terminal in Abuja city centre - covering routes mainly to north and central Nigeria.

Before the pandemic, roughly 3-500 people would use it each day.

As part of the new health and safety guidelines, the authorities put a 500-litre tank of water and soap at the gate of the motor park for people to wash their hands.

Everyone at the motor park is required to wear face masks and the vehicles are only allowed to carry 50% of their capacity.

But the situation is different with the Abuja-Kaduna railway.

The trains are yet to resume operations. The spokesman of the Abuja-Kaduna train service told me they are still waiting for the new health guidelines to be officially given to them before they can resume.

Nigeria has recorded more than 25,000 confirmed cases of the virus.

More than 9,000 of those infected have recovered while 500 people have died of the virus.