There is a growing battle between the Logistics Practitioners Association of Nigeria and the Presidential Task Force on the Apapa Gridlock over alleged extortion by men of the PTF, Blueprint has gathered.
According to the Public Relations Officer of LPAN, Tunda Oyebola, truck owners and drivers have been at the mercy of the officials of PTF, extorting them of as much as N200,000 and above from vehicles to get access to the Ports without issuance of receipts for the payments.
It would be recalled that the PTF was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 to help proffer solutions to the incessant gridlocks on the routes leading to the seaports in Lagos, including the Tin Can Island route.
According to LPAN, rather than proffer solutions to the gridlock, the operatives have turned their assignment to a business venture. “Thus, the traffic congestion on the Tin Can Island route to the port is not any better than what it used to be before the coming of the Presidential Task Force.”
“They created roadblocks to promote extortion, they keep trucks on the queue and give preference to their priority Trucks. They collect N200,000 and above from vehicles to get access to the Ports without issuance of receipts for the payments. We are not sure the money the Task Force collects from our members and other stakeholders, which amount to millions of Naira is remitted to the Federal Government or the Lagos State government.”
“Transport operators pay N100,000 to gain access to the Port for 2 weeks delay; some N200,000 or N300,000 to be allowed access within 2 days and so on. Transporters decided to move containers in badges through water from Mile 2 to the Ports to save time as against the long time it takes to reach the Ports.
Oyebola explained that the PTF was given four weeks at inauguration to complete its duties, and the expiration of the time, no extension was officially given, thereby making it continuous operation a subject of litigation at a Federal High Court in Lagos.
“We request that every officer on the team be investigated and people will be shocked to know the millions they have extorted from us. We have already submitted petitions against them to the EFCC and the IGP for thorough investigations.”
