The Kirikiri Lighter Terminal (KLT) command of the Nigeria Customs Service has raised over alarm rampant indiscriminate parking of tankers within the Ibafon Coconut axis on the Oshodi Apapa expreswway, saying that it is a time bomb waiting to explode.
Controller in charge of the command, Comptroller, Benjamin Aber raised the alarm yesterday during a press briefing where he added that a committee, comprising officials of Federal and State Government agencies has been constituted to address the menace.
He recalled that the explosion which occurred at the Military Cantonment in Ikeja in time past cannot be compared to any form of explosion that may arise at the tank farm, adding that indiscriminate parking of tankers and human contacts at the various tank farms scattered at the Mile 2, Ibafon axis is alarming,
According to him, the environment where the tank farms are located is unfriendly to port operations, he pointed out that it is unacceptable to convert tank farms environment to a conventional market .
“We have seen where they cook food with naked fire at the premises where the tank farms are located, creating unfriendly and unclean environment right there and the tank farm operators and security officials are all there”
“There is a possibility now that we have Boko Haram in the north and we are thinking that we are in Lagos, when one wicked soul will just walk down here and drop explosive and leave”, he told journalists.
He lamented that no measure has been put in place to monitor the influx of people doing business at the tank farms, describing the situation as careless and one which must be addressed appropriately.
He stressed that: “It is high time we created a free corridor, stating from Mile 2 all the way to the marine and it is going to involve both side of the roads”
“Nobody should park or wait within the corridors because it is simple common sense that when we create a corridor; we will achieve two things – one remove the miscreants here because they will have nowhere to harbour, secondly, there will be free access for tankers coming in and out of the tank farms “.
He however, expressed dissatisfaction with the indiscriminate parking of tankers on the bridges even as he raised alarm that such bridges have also been converted to parking lots.
Aber lamented that the bridges are seriously under threat and there is need to eradicate such elements on the roads leading to KLT, the jetties or tank farms and the ports
Aber further revealed that the chaotic traffic situation along the corridor has hampered loading of cargoes at the terminal, even as he noted that the chaos has also affected revenue drive of the command.
He explained that for the past three years, revenue collection has been hindered due to tankers indiscriminate parking.
The Area Controller disclosed that the committee put in place comprise of : Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Police, tank farm owners ,tanker drivers, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Ministry of works, Department for State Security (DSS), and others,
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