Apapa gridlock: Meal ticket for security agents

Traffic along the Port access roads seems to have  defied  all forms of solution applied by the government.

There have been hues from different quarters over government neglect of the roads leading to the nation’s major ports.

Both Tincan and Apapa ports handle about 90 percent of the cargoes coming into the country.

Perhaps because it serves as meal tickets for some agencies supposedly detailed to manage the gridlock and others who hide under government’s insensitivity to the perennial malady to feed fat at the expense of the helpless masses.

One major menace that has remained consistently insurmountable is extortion by the various security agents deployed to manage the traffic.

Task Force members established by the truckers didn’t help matter either as they barefacedly collect money along the Port access roads in the name of dues.

Each truck driver entering the Port should be ready to part with unreceipted N40,000 else, he will have no access to the port as menacing looking men employed by various security agents to collect the ungodly toll would not mind to either smash the wind shield of the truck or beat the driver up.

This practice has been going on for a long time. Why then would anyone blame a truck driver who is at risk of losing his teeth to beating or his truck smashed if he fails to drop the allotted amount.

The collectors carry out this activity without fear of anyone. This unholy boldness raises suspicion of stakeholders that they must be relying on godfathers who must have anointed them for the day time robbery.

Though some operators said the blame should not be entirely heaped on the security agents, they maintained that the uniform men and women are sometimes induced by over-ambitious truck drivers.

A truck owner who prefers anonymity said that when the officers and men of the Nigerian Navy were on the road, people accused them of extortion. He added that the extortion has continued even after the departure of Nigerian Navy officials from the axis.

This claim was corroborated when the Coordinator of Committee of Truck Unions and Associations (COMTUA), Mr Stephen Okafor said that even though the security agents extort drivers and truckers, the amount collected has gone down drastically compared to what used to be when Naval officers were on the roads.

Okafor said, “I am not saying they are not collecting anything or they are collecting anything but there is a total headway from what it used to be and what it is now.

“Nobody can beat his chest now and say he is paying as much as what he was paying then.

“The enforcement agents are on the road day and night, if they are collecting peanut, we the major stakeholders are not too worried because it is not pinching us the much it was pinching us then. So, I still continue to give credit to them because they have really assisted in the ease of doing business,” he said.

A visit by our correspondent to SIFAX bonded terminal in Ijora pretending to have a truck to pass, was asked by the plain clothed men  of the number of trucks he intended to bring into the port.

The reason for such question is the more the better for them and you will pay into the account of one of their bosses but if you have one or two trucks, you will be waved away.

The truck owner had stated that it is now a big business because the more the truck you want to pass, the better the business for them.

He added that they will attend to people who have an upward of 10 to 50 trucks who will transfer the cash in bulk.

The care-free attitude of the plain clothed men that collect the bribe allegedly for the police and LASTMA officials and other security agents involved in the deal is worrisome.

The bravery they display makes one wonder if they don’t have the backing of some superior officers who nudge them to go on.

Put succinctly, if there is a report of reduction in traffic in Apapa, it is only for private cars and commercial buses, not for trucks because they are perpetually held up waiting to access  the Port.

Abdullahi Mohammed Inuwa while speaking, said that truck drivers sometimes compound the woes of the casualties (truck owners) by collecting higher than what the security agents collect from them.

They make the owners pay more than the actual amount paid to find their ways into the port.

Another factor according to Prince Adeniyi Ajayi, CEO of Kay Tosh Resources Limited is lack of equipment and adequate personnel by the terminal operators.

He explained that if a ship berths in the terminal, the few equipment and personnel the terminal operators have will be deployed to the quay side because of the dollar denominated currency they will make from the ship and leave the loading and other jobs suffering.

He added that if the aspect of loading is left for three hours, it will generate a lot of traffic  both in the port and on the road.

AP Moller Terminal (APMT) is said to have no truck or container bays to receive empty containers, yet they charge demurrage on late return of containers.

Meanwhile, in trying to return empty containers to the Terminal, the container, truck, driver and owner are held for weeks standing on the road because of no fault of the truckers  because the terminal has nowhere to receive the empty container yet, no policy to reverse the ignominious act.

Shipping line agencies also feed fat on innocent importers for using their containers. Importers are ready to return empty containers but shipping lines have nowhere to receive them or not disposed to taking the containers back empty hence, deposits of importers is sacrificed for their incapability.

Stakeholders, as a result, have called on the federal government to summon political will to address the issues as the maritime industry is degenerating gradually and that the fortune could dwindle further if investors get frustrated and go to neighbouring countries.

According to a truck owner, he suggested that government should prevail on terminal operators and shipping lines and agencies to stop work for three days and receive only empty containers and see if the roads will not be free from congestion.

Effective call up system will solve this problem by a greater percentage if put in place and monitored by the appropriate agency with stern warning against extortion or the godfathers should be fished out and prosecuted to put an end to the extortion.