In an apparent reaction to alleged bribe by port security operatives and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), owners of trucks in Lagos ports have withdrawn the vehicles from service in what they explained as a one day warning strike.
Their action however crippled activities at the ports yesterday.
In an apparent reaction to alleged bribe by port security operatives and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), owners of trucks in Lagos ports have withdrawn the vehicles from service in what they explained as a one day warning strike.
Their action however crippled activities at the ports yesterday.
Confirming the development in a chat with Shipping Position Daily correspondent in Apapa, Lagos yesterday, President of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) chief Remi Ogungbemi stated that the LASTMA officers are towing away trucks belonging to the association’s members.
According to him, the LASTMA officials are taking advantage of the truck drivers and demanding for a whooping N150, 000 before the trucks can be released.
Ogungbemi also lamented that there is hostility against truck drivers at the port for developments that are not originally their fault, but caused by the inability of the government to produce a holding bay where trucks can be parked.
He particularly fingered the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) security officials and men of the monitoring task force at the port for allegedly extorting truck drivers and demanding money from them, when the trucks are on the queue before they can be allowed to go into the ports and drop their empty containers.
This, according to him, is the cause of the long queues on the entire expressway along the ports in Lagos.
"LASTMA is towing away our trucks for reasons which are not our fault, they have impounded over 130 trucks and they are demanding N150, 000 before they can release it".
"Our drivers have decided they can no longer allow this to continue because every day, they are being harassed whenever they are on the queue at the ports by security operatives, this is why you see them lined up on the road, because they are not allowed to go inside peacefully".
Ogungbemi however listed the demands of the association which includes the unconditional release of the seized trucks, withdrawal of the military from the port access road in the name of task force, because according to him, they are brutalising truck drivers.
The association is also demanding that container trucks must be allowed to come into the ports freely and discharge their empty containers without demands of bribe from security men.
He warned that if the demands are not met, the association shall embark on an indefinite strike.
Discussion about this post