Oluyinka Onigbinde
The Council of Maritime Transport Union and Associations (COMTUA) has lamented the what it described as indiscriminate arrest of its members’ trucks tickets and the heavy fines imposed on truck drivers by the Lagos State Committee on Removal of Abandoned Vehicle (LASCRAV).
The group, in a letter sent to the Special Adviser to Ministry of Transportation Lagos State, Mr Oluwatoyin Fayinka and signed by the Director of Legal, Temilorun Komolafe a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent, alleged gross irregularities perpetuated by officials of (LASCRAV), this is even as they lamented the forceful hijack of trucks on transit from their drivers by these persons who claimed to be working for the Lagos state government.
The COMTUA informed that in a bid to carry out this operation, dangerous weapons are freely used by thugs attached to the team. The truck owners also alleged that policemen attached to the team also use guns freely and sometimes on its members.
The Council further alleged that fines are hardly issued, stating that the officials of LASCRAV rather demand for cash collections ranging from N300,000 to N500,000.
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According to COMTUA, where fines are issued, truck drivers are made to pay N150,000 as towing fee, even when the trucks were driven by their drivers.
A copy of the fine ticket sighted by our correspondent also showed that truck drivers are made to pay a sum of N500,000 for treatment of injured personnel of the LASCRAV officials.
The COMTUA, while bemoaning the attitude of the Lagos state officials explained that vehicles are deliberately kept for many days to ‘generate’ daily charges of N2,000 per day as demurrage, while alleging that its members are harassed and injured mostly by thugs attached to the LASCRAV team.
The group urged the Special Adviser Ministry of Transportation, Lagos State to use his offices to resolve the gross misconduct of those who are using the name of Lagos state government indiscriminately.
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