About three weeks after the face-off between it officials and tanker drivers, the Lagos state government has again cautioned tanker drivers against indiscriminate parking of their vehicles on the highways.
The last face-off over indiscriminate at the popular Toyota bus stop on the ever busy Apapa- Oshodi expressway led to the seizure of 27 tankers and eventual strike by the tanker drivers who withdrew their trucks from service.
The action which was later resolved after the intervention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation which paid the penalty that was imposed was to degenerate into many days of scarcity of petroleum products throughout the country.
According to a statement that was made available to newsmen in Lagos last week, the government said that it has observed that the tanker drivers have started regrouping at unapproved parking slots again.
The statement which was signed by the public relations officer in the state ministry of information, Mr Femi Moliki quoted the commissioner for information, Mr Opeyemi Bamidele as saying that the state government would not succumb to the drivers’ blackmail and that officials of government would enforce all laws and orders irrespective of who or which group is affected.
Expressing shock at the recalcitrant attitude of the tanker drivers, the commissioner disclosed that “less than two days after the government released 27 tankers that were impounded as a result of indiscriminate parking in various parts of the metropolis, tanker drivers have blocked Toyota Bus Stop and Mile 2 again, causing traffic jam in these areas.”
According to him, “the attitude of tanker drivers towards road and traffic regulations is assuming a frightening dimension, even as he added that the attitude of the drivers was capable of undermining law and order in the state.
According to him, the recent inauguration of the first phase of the 3,500 trucks capacity International Truck Terminal in Orile Iganmu was a bold demonstration of the fact that the state government meant well for Lagosians and all those who do business in the state. He added that the government was desirous of achieving its dream of making Lagos a mega city where movement would be free form any hindrance.
Opeyemi was quoted as threatening that any driver who engages in wrong parking would be dealt with.
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