– Give two weeks ultimatum
– Says over N2billion lost to hoodlums monthly
– Activities compounds inflation
– Port congestion imminent
Esther Oritse
Lagos — Following the incessant attacks on truck drivers, a development that has resulted in killing of drivers, extortion and damage to vehicles, truckers operating in the maritime industry have threatened to down tools if the authorities do not intervene in the matter.
Speaking at a meeting yesterday, President of Lagos State Truck and Cargo Committee, LASTCOC, (a committee made up of various truck Unions and Associations) Mr. Lukmon Shittu said that most trucking and haulage businesses are running at a loss.
Shittu also said that the activities of these criminals have led to a drastic increase of goods of good and services.
He explained that also said that the Committee has done everything possible to bring the attention of the matter to both the Lagos State and Federal Government and nothing has been done to checkmate the activities of the hoodlums across the streets of Lagos.
He said: “The Maritime Truck Operators are among the largest employers of Labour in Nigeria. We contribute to the GDP growth of our nation. We work 24 hours under the sun and in the rain to feed our national economy for growth and development.
“We gather here today to draw the attention of the Federal Government of Nigeria as a matter of urgency, to address the menace of hoodlums who are working under name of commuter associations like National Union of Road Transport Workers NURTW, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria RTEAN and some Local Governments that are threatening our lives, vandalizing our trucks, sabotaging our business and undermining Nigerian economy.
“As a result of the activities of these hoodlums across many roads and highways in Lagos State, our drivers are being extorted, beaten and killed. Our trucks are being vandalized and set ablaze by these hoodlums in an attempt to collect money from our drivers. They have caused the falling of many trucks carrying export and import goods worth billions of naira along Apapa/Tin-Can Ports corridor and ECOWAS corridor of Lagos Badagry express road where innocent citizens have been lost their lives including military and police men thorough ghastly accidents induced by multiple checkpoints mounted by these hoodlums in their attempt to stop and extort truck Drivers.
“Our business is collapsing. We can no longer put our trucks in good shape and comply with minimum safety standards due to endless attacks on our trucks by hoodlums
“Nigeria’s trade facilitation, ease of doing business in the ports corridors and seamless evacuation of cargoes to and from the ports are imploding under the activities of hoodlums who apart from unlawful extortion, truck vandalization, causing traffic gridlock, assaulting drivers and death, have nothing positive to contribute.
“The hostile transportation business environment created by these hoodlums is limiting the chances of Nigeria benefiting from the African Continental Free Trade Area ACFTA by discouraging foreign investors. Many logistics businesses are relocating from Lagos State due to the activities of these hoodlums. Our drivers are abandoning driving profession due to daily harassment.
“We have written several letters to the Lagos State Government, the State Police Command and the DSS without any solution in view. Hence our convergence here today to let the Federal Government and the whole world know what we are passing through and enough is enough. We cannot continue to be working like elephant and be eating like ants. We cannot continue to labour for hoodlums to be collecting our hard-earned proceeds in this period of economic hardship coupled astronomical rise in cost of trucking operations.
On this note if Federal Government does not address the problem of hoodlums sabotaging our business, we are going to shut down ports operations through withdrawal of our service until Government addresses our challenges.
“We are through this medium making a clarion call to Mr. President, the Inspector General of Police, National Security Adviser, the Director General of DSS, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and Chairmen of National Assembly Committees on Maritime Transport Affairs to come to the rescue of Maritime Transport Operators and our national economy and truckers from extortion bandits masking under leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN and Local Government workers to inflict economic loss and hardship on hardworking citizens.”
The truckers demanded that the Federal Government should declare an outright ban of mounting of roadblocks and checkpoints for toll collection on major highways in line with sections of the Taxes and Levies act 2004 which prohibits any person, including a Tax Authority from mounting a Roadblock in any part of the Federation for the purposes of collecting any Tax or Levy.
“Commuter Bus Associations and Local Governments in Lagos State to refrain from stopping, harassing and imposing/selling their tickets or interfering with anything trucks as we truckers do not dabble into any of their affairs.
“The Federal Government should stop hoodlums from vandalizing our trucks, beating and extorting our drivers on the roads.”
Similarly, Oluwadare Ayilara, a truck owner, said that the continued extortion and activities of these hoodlums will be reflected on the prices of goods and services.
Sani Bala Vice President of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners, AMATO and trucker said the unchecked activities are compounding the inflationary trends currently being experienced in the nation economy.
Bala said: “We are calling on the Federal Government in the best interest of the economy to look into the activities of these hoodlums in the best interest of trade facilitation and save the Nigerian Maritime industry from collapse. In the best interest Federal Government should look into the activities of the hoodlums that are sabotaging our businesses.”
In his comments, Mr. Ridwan Bello, Vice Chairman, National Association Maritime Truck Operators, NAMTOP, said that street urchins and area boys operating under the guise of
National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, operating along Mile-2 to Badagry adding that there are over 30 extortion points along that axis.
Bello said: “How do you explain to investor when they come to our port and they see that their first contact point is riddled with corruption, street urchins disturbing easy evacuation of cargoes from the ports.
“We know how these things work in other countries, there has to be some sort of soft landing, they kill our drivers, they destroy our trucks, the facts are all there. A gallant officer of the Nigerian Army was killed due to unnecessary road blockade mounted by area boys under the guise of NURTW and RTEAN.
“Enough is enough, we want to get our businesses back, we need that soft landing, we just left the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council who has promised to see the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy over our issue with these hoodlums.
“We have also met with official of the Lagos State Government Ministry of Transportation, we took some drastic step towards resolving this problem of extortion, but nothing has come out of it.
Only in Tin-Can Island Port alone, we have over 28 extortion points, we just reduced it to about ten. If they had 28 extortion points, from my last calculation from over 100 trucks going to Tin-Can alone, they are making about N2billion a month. Do you know what N2billon can do to this industry?
“We are thinking of changing our engines to Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, do you know what that money can for us.
This is why we are asking the government to intervene in the matter, and we are giving 14 days ultimatum if not we will shut down.”
