Truckers’ strike: Nigeria loses $10m in four days as cargo glut build up in terminals

ABIOLA Seun |

The Nigerian economy has lost a whopping $10m to the strike embarked upon by truck drivers at the western port that started since Friday.

The truckers are protesting the monumental extortions they claimed they were being subjected to by the combined team of Naval, NPA and LASTMA officials who superintended over the traffic call system at Apapa.

It was gathered that all terminals at the seaports have been filled to the brim in the last four days with no end in sight.

Speaking, the spokesman of Seaports Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), Bolaji Akinola blamed the Nigerian Ports Authority for the problem.

He said the decision by the NPA to stop containers that did not originate from holding bays from going into the port led to the crisis.

“The issue is that we had over 1000 containers that were leaving the port everyday but the NPA introduced a system that got the trucks stuck.

“Between March and May this year when the Nigerian Navy was managing traffic, they brought sanity to the system. However, NPA last month said they were responsible for managing Apapa traffic and they came up with this system.

“As I speak to you, the port is filled up. There is massive congestion and terminal operators have lost $10 million since this crisis started. This is exclusive of revenue loss by the federal government and other stakeholders.

“The NPA should discard this system because even without the strike there is congestion at the ports. The problem of the port is bad roads and the lack of Truck Park. Government knows the problem, they should address it. NPA should allow the Navy to manage the traffic, “he said.

Meanwhile, port terminals at the Apapa and Tin- Can ports are experiencing cargo congestion as Truck drivers operating at the Nigerian seaports have stopped lifting cargoes since Friday.

Container terminals at the western port include the APM Terminals Apapa, Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT), Port and Cargo Handling Services and Five star logistics.

While an average of 700 containers are removed daily at APM Terminals, an average of 500 containers are moved at TICT, Port and Cargo and Five star, then about 6600 containers of perishable and non-perishable cargoes are presently trapped at the port in the last three days.

But, a highly impeccable source at one of the container handling terminals had confirmed that the truck drivers have all down tool and refused to lift consignments.

He said the truck drivers had also been stopped from using the Ijora Bridge by the officers of the Nigerian Navy.

“The truckers have all down tool since Saturday, not one truck has moved cargoes out of the port. The truckers are also calling on the Nigerian Navy to stop the call-up system in use because of the high level of extortion and brutality.”

When asked the implication, he said, “congestion of course and we all know the implication to the economy,” he said.

It is widely known that 98 percent of cargoes in Nigeria ports are evacuated out of the port using the road as rail and water transportation share the remaining two percent in the movement of cargoes out of the port.

Also, it is only the Apapa port that is connected to rail out of all the seaports in the western zone.

Also speaking, the National Publicity Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Licenced Customs Agents (ANLCA), Joe Sanni confirmed the strike embarked upon by truck drivers.

He said the strike has affected their clients as lots of cargo laden containers are trapped at the seaport.

“The strike is affecting us no doubt and lots of cargoes are trapped.