Transporters along Lagos’s main port access routes have staged a protest after the Council of Maritime Transport Unions and Associations (COMTUA) accused the Lagos State Trucks and Cargo Operations Committee (LASTCOC) of re‑establishing illegal checkpoints despite a recent police‑convened agreement.
The dispute stems from a peace meeting held at the Western Ports Command headquarters, directed by the Inspector General of Police to end extortion and roadblocks on port transit routes. COMTUA’s National President, Prince Adeyinka Aroyewun, said that representatives of both unions and other stakeholders agreed that no body should set up checkpoints or collect levies along the corridor that runs from Coconut, Tin Can, Apapa and Mile 2 to the Ijora‑Apapa route.
According to Aroyewun, LASTCOC operatives returned to the roads less than 24 hours after the meeting and resumed what the union calls “illegal toll collection, extortion and harassment of truckers.” He warned that such actions “are 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.”
COMTUA urged truckers not to pay any levies or purchase tickets at the alleged checkpoints, arguing that continued extortion could trigger tension and disrupt port activities. The union cited opposition from the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the Nigerian Ports Authority and other federal agencies to toll collection along port access roads.
“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 committed to law‑abiding operations and the economic stability of the ports, but it warned that continued illegal checkpoints could lead to a breakdown of law and order on the corridor.
<small>Source: Daily Post Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
