The ongoing road re- construction along the Tin Can Island port in Lagos, has necessitated the undue extortions of truckers on that axis, who claim to pay as high as forty five thousand naira per truck, before being allowed to access the port, by the combined team of security operatives on the road.
An Executive member of the National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, Alhaji Inuwa Abdullahi, in a chat with newsmen in Lagos, confirmed the claim and explained that, it is due to the restriction of all the trucks to one lane hence the driver’s impatience of loosing long hours on the queue in their effort to get in and out of the port.
Alhaji lnuwa stressed the fact that lack of proper coordination for the trucks heading into the port, creates the avenue for the extortion and other sharp practices along the port access roads.
Also speaking on the issue, the Chairman, Association of Maritime Trucks Owners, AMATO, Chief Remi Ogungbemi expressed regrets that, the Heads of Agencies in the Maritime industry, should be concerned with finding a lasting solution to the problem of extortions by strictly regulating trucks movement in and out of the ports as well as the management of the petrol tankers heading to the numerous tank farms in the area.
Yemisi Oreoluwa
