For over a decade, the cost of moving cargoes out of the nation’s seaports by in Lagos has gone up by over 450 per cent due to illegal activities by security agents, criminals and other challenges around the port environment.

Implication

Findings revealed that about 3,000 trucks accessing the port charged between N800,000 and N1.2 million instead of N150,000 or N250,000 to freight cargoes out of the seaports in Lagos, translating to an average of N3.6 billion daily due to the challenges of extortion, insecurity and gridlock.

The situation was so bad to the extent that the management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) resolved to sanction any of its staff caught extorting truckers on the port access roads of Tin Can Island and Lagos ports.

For instance, the authority noted that punitive measure would apply in line with the public service rules and NPA conditions of service with zero tolerance for such malfeasance.

It was learnt that the federal and Lagos State governments, to rid the port roads of gridlock, had turned the port into a cash cow as camp boys and other hoodlums were fronting for officials of agencies along the roads to extort truckers.

Moreover, NPA noted that inter-agency superiority had hindered sharing of information among various government agencies operating in the port, leading to sharp practices among the agencies.

However, early this year, the Lagos State Government and NPA teamed up to dismantle the illegal check points, cleared the port road of gridlock and other challenges in order to pave the way for ease of doing business.

Unfortunately, five months after, the same problems hindering smooth trade facilitation and cargo evacuation from the ports have returned as security agents snubbed penalties from government, thereby frustrating truck drivers to deliver their consignments.

Miffed by the challenges, the Area Controller of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Tin Can Island Command, Dera Nnadi, said last week that the command had held a meeting with NPA and other critical stakeholders as haulage cost, which came down recently to between N250,000 and N300,000 within Lagos metropolis, was now rising to between N800,000 and N1.2 million.

Complaints

Recounting the latest extortion on the road, the Chairman of Lagos State Truck and Cargo Operators Committee (LASTCOC), Alhaji Lukman Shittu Zangalo, at the Nigerian ports forum in Lagos tagged:

“Achieving seamless ports and cargo business in Nigeria, challenges and prospects,” said that the culprits in the new hydra headed extortion ring included officials of Nigeria Police, NPA, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and hoodlums known as area boys, saying that they were wielding big sticks and dangerous weapons in daylight to extort money from truck drivers with impunity.

Issue

He said: “There are multiple

When the clean up was initially implemented, it worked perfectly and made things easier for everyone

checkpoints, and truckers are spending a lot of money to enter the port, which does not go to the Federal Government but to individuals. “As the chairman, we have not collected money from our members at Apapa or Tin Can.

We are dealing with area boys, police, LASTMA, and even the NPA on the road. “When the NPA Eto Call-Up system was introduced, it initially worked well. After registering your truck and completing the call log, you wouldn’t spend any more money until you entered the port.

But now, that system is no longer functioning as it should and these issues need to be addressed.

“As the chairman of the truck and cargo union, which includes over 30 unions that joined together, I am here to find solutions to our problems between the Apapa and Tincan ports and the surrounding areas in Lagos State.By God’s grace, we will do our best to make things easier for all truckers.”

Past record

Recall that before the Tincan gridlock was cleared, the Port Manager, Lagos Port Complex and Chairman Eto Project Implementation Committee, Mr Charles Okaga, explained that there were 20 extortion points along the Mile 2- Tin Can Island Port access road where truck drivers are extorted.

According to him, the activities of non-state actors collecting money from truck drivers have caused the drivers to divert to using the Ijora axis to gain access to Tin Can Island Port.

Solution

To arrest the trend, Zangalo called for proper monitoring of the successes recorded in order to ensure its sustenance, saying that the port sector needs proper monitoring and clean up.

According to him, when the clean up was initially implemented, it worked perfectly and made things easier for everyone.

Last line

The Lagos State Government and NPA should address the issue of extortion in order to avoid high cost of freighting containers out of the port to their destinations.