Trucks Drivers in Lagos have defiled governor Sanwo-Olu’s directives
OpenLife Nigeria had reported on February 23, that Lagos State government led by governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu received Hadiza Bala Usman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA at the State House, Alausa in an effort to proffer lasting solution to the menace of trucks causing gridlocks in Apapa.
At the meeting, plans were concluded to launch a digital call-up system to check unending Apapa ports gridlock.
The essence was to ensure that movements of trucks in and out of the Lagos seaports will be organised through a transparent electronic call-up system that will be based on first-come-first-serve basis.
With the new system, no container-laden truck was expected to go on Apapa corridor without clearance from the call-up platform. Any truck that flouts the electronic roster and park along Apapa corridor will be impounded by the Taskforce already set up by the Lagos State Government.
But as of Thursay, March 4, sanity was yet to return to the Apapa corridor, as fuel tankers and containerised vehicles have resumed indiscriminate parking along the road.
On Thursday from Ijora end, as well as Tin-Can, several trucks on the road which contributed to a gridlock that stretched from Mile 2 to Toyota later in the evening.
Between 1pm and 3pm some containers parked outside Fano Bonded Terminal along capital bus-stop inwards Mile 2. Moving further along the Mile 2 Corridor inwards Tin Can Port, several fuel tankers like Eterna, Heyden and Conoil were observed parking along the road.
At the Abuja park, the gridlock tightened till the point that motorcycles struggled to go through as they resorted to going under container trucks parked on the bridge along Ports and Cargo terminal.
A trucker, Lekan Afeez, who chose to park on the bridge leading into the Apapa ports said he was confused as to where to park.
He said, “I do not know what they are doing. Anyone given the call-up should enter directly into Lilypond terminal. We are going to Lilypond terminal but we don’t know whether it is open or not. They stopped us on the bridge. If you get down from the bridge, everyone is reparking. We just got here today.”
Another trucker at Mile 2, one Usman who was moving along the Apapa-Oshodi axis said his truck was not on any e-call up system, adding that he was bound for Ikorodu from Fano Bonded Terminal.
A call to the NPA Chief Executive Officer was not answered and no response on the sms to ascertain the reason for the return of gridlock few days after the launch of the portal.
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