Gilbert Ekugbe
Hoodlums allegedly under the guise of one of the maritime workers group, yesterday attacked Lagos State officials saddled with responsibility of opening up the clogged Tin Can Port access roads.
THISDAY with the task team comprising the Lagos State Truck and Cargo Operators Committee (LASTCOC), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Police, witnessed the brutal attack on the members of the task team.
The task team had on Monday embarked on the exercise to open up inbound section of the Tincan Port access road that has been clogged to road users as part of efforts to ensure free flow of traffic, enhance trade facilitation and seamless evacuation of cargoes from Tincan Port.
The team continued the exercise yesterday to create and implement a single-lane policy for truck movement to allow access for other road users.
Barely five minutes into the commencement of the exercise from Tin Can’s second gate, thugs allegedly belonging to Maritime Workers Union led by one Taofeek, popularly known as Tao, disrupted the operation.
The thugs attacked members of LASTMA, NPF, NPA and LASTCOC that came to open up the Tincan corridor, just as Taofeek threw a keg of fuel at members of the task team to set them ablaze.
During the incident, an official of LASTMA sustained injury and lost his phone, while the thug attempted to snatch riffle from a member of the road clearance exercise team but was over powered and taken to the task force office at Oshodi.
The road clearance team tactically withdrew from Tincan Port gate to prevent total breakdown of law and order and high casualties.
Reports have it that there has been disunity among transport and maritime workers union on the menace of the gridlock on the Tincan and Apapa ports access road, especially the extortion of truckers.
While it is alleged that some of the union are associated with the extortion of truckers and causing fued, the federal and State government constituted task teams of security operatives to address the issue, which did not achieve result.
The effort to clear the roads of indiscriminate parking of trucks, tankers and checkpoints to promote ease of doing business, trade facilitation and seamless evacuation of cargoes from the Tincan Port corridor have continued to be sabotaged
To finally address the issue, the Lagos State Government constituted the Lagos State Truck and Cargo Operators Committee, comprising members of the different maritime transport unions to help the security agencies salvage the situation.
The committee vowed to end the harassment and extortions of truckers as well and bring sanity to the port access roads.
