The atrocious extortions from more than 50 unlawful checkpoints along the ports’ access roads in Apapa, Lagos, have prompted truckers under the leadership of the Council Of Maritime Transport Unions And Associations (COMTUA) to raise their voices.
The group said that some officers of the Maritime Workers Union (MWUN), Lagos State Park and Garages Management, and the Truck Transit Park (TTP) are among those encouraging extortion along the port corridor in a statement by its national president, Adeyinka Aroyewun.
Aroyewun urged the government and its authorities to act quickly to stop the situation and improve the convenience of conducting business at the seaports.
He stated: “It is with deep frustration that we write to highlight and bring to your notice, the excruciating torture, daily extortion, and destruction of trucks our members face in the hands of touts who position along port access roads and major highways in Lagos.
“To say the least, it is sad to note that this brazen illegality continues in broad daylight without any modicum of the check,” he continued.
According to Aroyewun, the truckers wrote numerous letters to the government (at various levels) pleading with the appropriate government officials to force the miscreants to order, but all of their pleas went unanswered.
“Truly, the body language of the government is only a confirmation of the claim of the touts that they have the backing of the government and that they work in absolute connivance,” he told reporters.
He also stated: “Letters of complaint and consultation to Park and Garages Committee, Park Administration Committee and Maritime Workers’ Union (MWUN) on the activities of their members at best fell on deaf ears as it has not yielded results”.
Aroyewun, in the statement, alleged that “Maritime Workers Union (MWUN) have 20 points from Coconut to Tincan Port Second gate where NGN2,000 is forcefully collected per point from our members. This is under the watch of Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, the President General, whose main coordinator is Taofeek Shorinola, also known as and called Sheu Tao.”
“Park and Garages Management has Abayomi Abeyi Ajele, also known and called Ikomodina; Michael Adewale, alias hot water; and one Raji, aka student mount. In all, about 30 extortion points between Mile 2 and Sunrise Bus Stop, where between N2,000 and N6,000 are forcefully collected per point.
“Chiboy, Adeleke, and others are for park administrators who extort around Kirikiri, FATGBEMS, Badagry Express road, and inside Amuwo Odofin.
“Of another serious concern is the involvement of a royal father, the Oniba of Iba land, Oba Sulaimon Adeshina, who encourages his committee members to create more points of extortion,” he added.
He claims that the group has serious concerns about the government’s potential complicity in the illicit activity occurring along the port corridor.
The thing that disturbs him the most is that TTP keeps collecting money without taking into account the suffering that drivers endure at the hands of this hoodlum.
The claim, according to MWUN President General Adeyanju Adewale, is pure blackmail.
He stated: “MWUN is a partner in growing our economy and ensuring peace in all our ports, terminals, jetties, and oil and gas platforms which informs our unblemished decade-long record of maintaining industrial peace in the maritime sector. Our record is in the public space for all to see.”
“Short of libelous, Aroyewun assertion that MWUN tolls 20 checkpoints from coconut Bus-Stop to Tin Can Island Gate, a distance of about 1000 meters is a figment of his myopic imagination and a deliberate lie designed to malign our good image,” he said.
