By Uzor Odigbo
After three months closure of Lilypond truck terminal at Ijora, Lagos State, activities were said to have been restored on Saturday.
Recall that a section of the facility was in October burnt down by hoodlums, following face-off between truck drivers and members of the task force team over allegation of extortion. The fracas left one person dead.
It was gathered that the fracas started following allegation of bribery and extortion by truck drivers against the enforcement team.
But speaking against the background of the reopening, a member of the task team, Comrade Thompson Olaleye, said that the facility commenced operations on Saturday, with the Presidential task team fully on ground to monitor the movement of articulated vehicles along the corridor.
Olayele who also admitted that gridlock still exists along the access road maintained that the riot stalled all avenue for the task team to regulate movement of trucks in and out of the facility.
The haulage operator who also doubles as the President , Amalgamation of Container Trucks Owner , stressed the need for the contractors on the corridors to expedite actions in fixing the access road linking the seaports.
Olaleye accused the government over failure to monitor the road construction along the Apapa Oshodi expressway, adding that the gridlock could be attributed to the slow pace of the road rehabilitation.
“Government has to do something about the state of the roads because if the roads are in good shape I don’t think we will be in this situation we find ourselves.”
He lamented that the task team was working round the clock to ensure free flow of vehicles in and out of the facility.
The President of the haulage group also called on barge operators to reconsider the charges as this has affected the cost of doing business in the ports.
Olaleye disclosed that four security operatives attached to the task team have been redeployed over issues of highhandedness and inhumane treatment of drivers and conductors.
He noted that a police man and three LASTMA officials were affected in the redeployment following their misconduct while on duty along the corridors.
“If the task team is doing what is not right, I will say it and if I have to report to the Commissioner of Police, I will do so.
“We have removed up to four or five members of the task force team that we reported officially for misconduct.
“So if you are doing what is not right, there is no need for me to back you,” he maintained.
