The federal government has stated that it would deploy 200 security men to address the gridlock at Tin Can and Apapa ports in Lagos, which has been hindering the flow of vehicular traffic in the axis.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi made the disclosure at a meeting with Maritime Stakeholders and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) in Lagos. He also stated that the soon-to-be deployed security operatives will not allow parking of trucks on the roads.
The Media Assistant to the minister, Taiye Elebiyo-Edeni said that the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria had warned the federal government of a planned strike if it failed to solve the problem.
Amaechi recommended that a steering committee be put in place and should be headed by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani to review the situation on a monthly basis until the problem dissipates.
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Other members of the committee would be drawn from the Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigerian Shippers Council, MWUN, Federal Road Safety Commission, and Lagos State Government.
He directed the committee to write to the Inspector General of Police for more officers for the assignment.
“The issue of traffic on these routes is because in Nigeria we don’t discipline people. People do whatever they like even when it’s wrong because there is no consequence for our actions. We need security officers to enforce compliance on trucks blocking the road.
“100 men at Tin Can and Apapa to be stationed there every day because Nigerians don’t obey until there are consequences for actions. NPA, Shippers Council must have a level of funding to resolve these challenges.
“We need to talk to shippers and traders, especially those around Warri, to see how they can be using Warri port so that Lagos ports will be decongested. We can get security to follow the cargoes to that area, so that traders from Aba, Onitsha that are ready to use that port can go there.”
Speaking on behalf of the union, the Deputy Secretary-General of MWUN, Comrade Abudu Eroje, said that the union wanted to go on strike because of the hardship workers face every day trying to go to work because of the gridlock.
He said the union is now part of the implementation committee which took a decision that letters will be sent out to all relevant stakeholders giving them an ultimatum when all trucks must leave the road and go back to their various parks.
Eroje said a manual call-up system would commence before the electronic system until all access roads to Tin Can by Mile 2 are cleared.
