Majority of stakeholders stayed away from Lagos ports on Thursday in deference to the nationwide protests which also affected many businesses in the state.
While most offices were shut, most clearing agents and truckers who operating at both Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports were absent from work as a result of the #EndBadGovernance protests.
As a result of the apparent stay-away, the ever-busy access roads to the two ports were devoid of vehicular and human activities.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that, prior to yesterday, various stakeholders, notably the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), truckers’ groups as well as freight forwarding associations had dissociated from the protests.
However, many workers and port operators were not on duty on Thursday, when the protest started. An anonymous source at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) at Tin Can port, attributed the absence to fear of being attacked by protesters, as well as absence of most commercial vehicles on the roads.
Similarly, even though the Customs Area Controller (CAC) of Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Comptroller Babatunde Olomu had assured that the Lagos ports ould be opened for business, the absence of clearing agents made the presence of Customs officials ineffective.
Clearing agents who spoke with our correspondents said that they would not have been able to deliver cargoes to owners, even if they were at the ports, because trucks were also off the roads. They also added that the truckers might have been scared-off the roads because of the fear of being attacked by hoodlums and their goods looted.
