The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed during a meeting with Maritime Stakeholders and Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria in Lagos that the Federal Government has completed plans to deploy 200 security officers to Apapa and Tin-Can Ports to clear the gridlock on the routes.
According to the Media Assistant to the Minister, Mrs. Taiye Elebiyo-Edeni, the security personnel are expected to ensure that no vehicle parks along the road.
Deputy Secretary-General of MWUN, Abudu Eroje, said the union had scheduled a strike action because of the hardship workers faced every day trying to go to work because of the gridlock.
The union threatened to embark o industrial action if the government failed to address the gridlock on the route. The minister stated further that there should be a steering committee headed by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Magdalene Ajani, to seat monthly until the challenges were overcome.
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Other members to serve on the committee would be drawn from the Nigerian Port Authority, Nigerian Shippers Council, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Federal Road Safety Corps and the Lagos State Government.
The minister also directed the committee to write to the Inspector-General of Police for more officers for the assignment. He was quoted as saying, “The issue of traffic on these routes is because in Nigeria, we do not discipline people. People do whatever they like even when it’s wrong because there is no consequence for our actions. We need security officers to enforce compliance on truck blocking the road.
“We need to talk to shippers and traders especially those around Warri to see how they can be using Warri port so that Lagos Ports will be decongested. We can get security to follow the cargoes to that area so that traders from Aba, and Onitsha that are ready to use that port can go there.”
A statement released on Wednesday by the Nigeria Shippers’ Council said that the Presidential Task Team on traffic management in Apapa had been disbanded. It added that the PTT was now replaced by a Ministerial Implementation Committee on traffic management.
