Group laments Military Personnel in traffic Control…says it’s a Nightmare

Tayo Oladipupo |

Trucker owners have advocated the withdrawal of the services of military personnel in traffic control along the ports access roads saying their involvement has become a nightmare to haulage operations.

The Managing Director, St. Vincent and Barth Logistics Limited, Mr. Vincent Odunukwe made the call while speaking with journalists in his office in Lagos at the weekend.

He however queried the rationale behind the army assigned to control traffic with other security agencies even as he further alleged that extortion cases have been worrisome in the last couple of weeks.

According to him, the influx of soldiers in resolving the gridlock has allegedly increased the level of extortion by other security agencies along the port corridors.

Odunukwe who is a member of Amalgamated of Containers Truck Owners Association of Nigeria (ACTOAN), alleged that “From Mile 2 to the port at Tin Can Island I can tell you that our drivers pay close to N50,000 to 70,000 to the security agencies on a daily basis and nobody is doing anything or saying anything about it “.

Apart from the deplorable state of the ports access roads, the truck owner further lamented that their business has been affected negatively despite the hike in charges.

According to him, truckers are to be compensated by the shipping companies and terminal operators over delays experienced by truck drivers while returning empty containers.

“Our business is suffering due to the bad roads and issues of trucks accessing the terminals has become a nightmare to us.

“We are confused because things of such nature are strange to us.

Also speaking on the recent hike in haulage charges by truck owners, he maintained that “We are craven for the charges to go back to status quo because back then a truck can make three trips in a week but as we speak a particular truck can stay up to one month on a single trip.

According to him, turnover charges have dropped in the last three months adding that multiple extortion, bad roads and lack of infrastructures are some of the challenges why truckers are frustrated in the port haulage business.

He noted that the current charges to lift consignment out of the ports range between N350, 000 to N500, 000 respectively but affirmed that shipping companies should be held accountable due to lack of holding bays.

Odunukwe said “By right we are not supposed carry empty containers for so long because we are ready to drop their empty containers because the sooner you drop empty containers the better for you”.

Similarly, Secretary of Joint Council of Seaport Truckers (JCOST), Mr. Godwin Ikeji lamented that the industry has been stressed up adding that the dynamism in the sector has been hijacked.