The National Executive Council of the Council of Maritime Transport Unions and Associations, COMTUA, has accused the Lagos State Trucks and Cargo Operations Committee, LASTCOC, of disregarding a resolution reached at a peace meeting convened by the Commissioner of Police, Western Ports Command.
COMTUA alleged that LASTCOC had continued to mount illegal checkpoints, collect levies and allegedly extort truckers along the Lagos port access corridor despite the agreement reached at the meeting.
The union’s National President, Prince Adeyinka Aroyewun, disclosed this in a statement, saying the meeting was held in accordance with the directive of the Inspector General of Police on eliminating extortion and illegal roadblocks along port transit routes.
According to Aroyewun, representatives of COMTUA and LASTCOC, alongside other stakeholders, attended the meeting at the headquarters of the Western Ports Command to address operational challenges affecting movement and logistics around the ports.
He said the stakeholders agreed that no union, association or committee should conduct its activities, establish checkpoints or collect levies, tolls or tickets along the port corridor covering Coconut, Tin Can, Apapa and Mile 2, as well as the Ijora-Apapa route.
“At that meeting, it was clearly and unequivocally agreed and directed that no union, association or committee is permitted to conduct any union or committee business, mount checkpoints, or collect any form of levy, toll or ticket on the port corridor – from Coconut, Tin Can, Apapa to Mile 2, and from Ijora to Apapa Port,” Aroyewun stated.
The COMTUA president, however, alleged that LASTCOC operatives returned to the routes less than 24 hours after the agreement was reached and resumed what he described as illegal toll collection, extortion and harassment of truckers.
“Sadly, less than 24 hours after that agreement, LASTCOC operatives returned to the road this morning, mounted illegal roadblocks, and resumed illegal toll collection, extortion and harassment of truckers with greater impunity.
“This is a direct affront to the authority of the Commissioner of Police, Western Ports Command, a contempt of the Nigeria Police Force, and a deliberate act capable of causing a breach of public peace,” he said.
COMTUA maintained that LASTCOC’s alleged actions amounted to a violation of the agreement reached in the presence of police authorities.
The union also said the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Nigerian Ports Authority and other Federal Government agencies had previously opposed toll collection along port access roads.
It argued that the alleged continuation of the collections despite the positions of the agencies and the police directive suggested that LASTCOC was operating outside the law.
COMTUA consequently advised truckers and its members not to pay levies or purchase tickets at what it described as illegal checkpoints.
“We warn all truckers and COMTUA members: Do not allow yourselves to be extorted. Do not buy LASTCOC tickets. Do not pay any money at any illegal checkpoint. Every payment encourages them,” Aroyewun stated.
The union warned that continued alleged extortion and obstruction of the port corridor could trigger tension among truckers and disrupt activities around the ports.
“The continuous extortion and blockage of the road by LASTCOC is capable of leading to a total breakdown of law and order and a breach of public peace on the port corridor. Our members are highly agitated and restive,” he added.
COMTUA called on security agencies to intervene urgently to prevent a breakdown of law and order and protect economic activities around the country’s major seaports.
The union specifically urged the Commissioner of Police, Western Ports Command, to enforce the resolutions reached at the meeting, dismantle what it described as LASTCOC checkpoints along the port corridor, and prosecute anyone found to have violated the directive.
“We therefore call on the Commissioner of Police, Western Ports Command, to enforce the resolutions of the meeting he convened yesterday, to immediately disband all LASTCOC checkpoints on the port corridor, and to arrest and prosecute those who have chosen to disobey his lawful directive,” Aroyewun said.
“COMTUA remains law-abiding and committed to the peace and economic growth of the ports, but we will not allow any illegal committee to turn the port road into a toll gate. Enough is enough,” he added.
Transporters protest illegal checkpoints along Lagos ports corridor