Protest As Maritime Truck Drivers Decry 400,000 Extortion
Truck owners and drivers, under the aegis of the Maritime Truck Drivers Association (MTDA), on Tuesday staged a protest against the multiple layers of extortion faced by truck operators, which has impacted their businesses financially.
The association also opposed calls to scrap the electronic call-up system.
They also decried widespread racketeering and inefficiencies at port terminals that cause long queues on access roads.
The protesters, who began their march from the Lillypond Truck Park in Ijora and moved through Apapa Port to Tin-Can Island Port on Tuesday, raised concerns over growing extortion checkpoints, racketeering, and terminal inefficiencies.
They warned that these issues not only place a heavy financial burden on truck operators but also cause significant delays in cargo movement by hindering the smooth entry and exit of trucks at the ports.
It was gathered that certain cartels are allegedly generating electronic call-up tickets and selling them on the black market for between ₦250,000 and ₦400,000. Additionally, truck drivers are reportedly forced to pay between ₦5,000 and ₦20,000 at multiple extortion points along the port access corridors.
The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions such as: “ETO Call-Up Is Working, Let TTP Be!”, “Eliminate Extortion Checkpoints in Apapa and Tin-Can Ports,” “Call-Up Is Working, Improve Terminal Efficiency”, “MTDA Supports ETO Call-Up Against Extortion Checkpoints,” “ETO Has Addressed Traffic in Apapa and Tin-Can Corridors”, “Remove Extortion Checkpoints and Give Us ETAG,” “MTDA Supports ETO Call-Up, No Going Back to Egypt”.
The truck owners and drivers also called for the introduction of Electronic Tags (ETAG), which would help prevent manipulation of call-up allocations, as well as urged authorities to address multiple extortion checkpoints and deploy a truck scheduler system to enhance call-up efficiency.
According to the truckers’ associations and committee, the production of ETAG will eliminate call-up racketeering and the use of multiple identities to access the ports.
The Chairman of Lagos State Trucks and Cargo Operators Committee (LASTCOC), Lukeman Shittu, defended the electronic call-up system, declaring calls to abandon the system in favour of old methods are misguided and only serve those who once benefitted from chaos and unregulated access to the ports.
Zangalo drew on his two decades of experience in the trucking sector to highlight how the port environment has transformed since the introduction of the ETO system, unlike in the past, when trucks parked indiscriminately and clogged Lagos roads.
“We just want to clarify some misinformation out there, people calling for a return to the old system are not representing real stakeholders. Those were the ones benefiting from the disorder,” he stated.
Shittu acknowledged that some operational issues remain, particularly when port terminals experience downtime or delays.
“If terminals like APMT and other terminals are not operating efficiently, trucks can’t move. And TTP won’t release more trucks, leading to a backlog,” he noted.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
