Human Rights Writers & Youth Council Condemn Fare Hike by Air Peace & United Nigiria Air
Human Rights Writers & Youth Council Condemn Fare Hike by Air Peace & United Nigiria Air on South East Routes
Calls for boycott of the airlines during 2025 Christmas season
By Joseph C. Ibekwe
The National Youth Council of Nigeria and the Human Rights Writers Asscociation of Nigeria have condemned in strong terms the increase of airfare by the duo of United Nigeria Airlines and Air Peace, on the Southeast route, as the 2025 Christmas season approaches.
In a statement signed by Comrd Nnonyelum Williams, South East Zonal Vice President of NYCN, the group lamented the increase of airfare by as much 131%, whcih it describes as outrages and did not take into consideration the current economic realities.
The statement declared: “We find this development very worrisome, especially as it is coming at a time of biting economic realities”.
“We also find this very problematic because it places exponential burdens on families.
These fare hikes disproportionately affect middle- and lower-income Nigerians who depend on affordable air travel to reunite with loved ones during the Yuletide.
More disturbing is the fact that this disproportionate fare hike is billed to affect only the South Eastern and South-South routes. This is not only mischievous but totally inconsiderate.
While the group acknowledged the issue of operational costs, it argues that the implementation is clearly arbitrary and unfair compare to the routes across the country.
“More suspicious and annoying is the fact that Air fares from Abuja/ Lagos to Sokoto and Maiduguri remain within the range of N150, 000 range, despite being farther in distance from Lagos -Abuja, than the south east”, the statement noted.
The Youth Council says the increase was the height of “peak exploitation”, describing the action of the two airlines as ethically questionable.
The group therefore called on United Nigeria Airline and Air Peace to reverse the fare hike and adopt fairer prices in the best interest of the teeming passengers in the South East and South-South
On its part, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has raised alarm over this airline hike on south east routes and called for outright boycott of United Nigeria Airlines and Air Peace during the Christmas period. The boycott statement is captioned: “Why the Igbo smuts permanently abandon Air Peace and United Nigeria Airlines”. It reads:
“Allen Onyema, a man who drapes himself in the flag of “One Nigeria” while his pricing model screams “Igbo’ Must Pay More”, has perfected the art of betrayal capitalism. Obiora Okonkwo, his partner in this campaign against the Igbo’, has joined him in turning the skies into a tollgate against their own people.
The statement presents data of the fare hikes of Air peace along South East routes during Christmas seasons, between 2023 to2025, describing them as dangerously unfair.
For instance, in 2023: Lagos → Enugu (253.3 Nautical Miles) – one-way fare ₦135,000 (which was then 3times pre-festive average). Lagos → Kano (449.4 Nautical Miles) – one way fare ₦55,000. Abuja → Enugu (152.3 NM) – ₦125,000. Abuja → Kano (196.3 NM) – ₦48,000. The Igbo travelers swallowed the pain because “our brother owns the airline.”
In 2024: Lagos → Enugu ( ₦215,000) one-way (+59 % on 2023). Lagos → Asaba (200.3 NM) – ₦205,000 (+63 %). Lagos → Kano – ₦78,000 (+42 %). Abuja → Owerri (214 NM) – ₦225,000. Abuja → Kaduna (82 NM) – ₦52,000. The same aircraft; same fuel; and same cockpit crew.
In 2025, the announced airfares increases are as follows: Lagos → Enugu – ₦350,500 one-way (+63 % on 2024, +159 % on 2023). Lagos → Asaba – ₦320,000 (+56 % on 2024). Abuja → Enugu – ₦275,000 (+120 % on 2024). Return tickets to the South-East now ₦677,000, while Northern routes – Lagos → Kano return ₦213,800, less than one-third the Igbo rate.
HURIWA calls it “sadistic, anti-Igbo price-fixing” and says “No more boarding passes. No more “our brother will understand.”
