Aggrieved truck drivers and their motor boys today shut major roads in Apapa as they protested over alleged extortion by officers of Nigerian Navy and other security agencies.
The protesters numbering over two thousand marched through Creek Road to Liverpool before diverting to Point Road Junction where they prevented other cargo laden trucks from exiting Apapa.
Except for a few trucks belonging to Dangote, trucks were not seen coming into the Apapa Ports Complex and Tin CAN Island Ports ,which happens to be the two largest ports in the country
Most of the protesters bearing placards and green leaves, chanted songs accusing the naval officers and other security agents of taking as much as N40,000 from them for each truck before such trucks are allowed access into the ports.
Some of the protesters said the march is part of an ongoing strike action by the truck operators is aimed at drawing government attention to extortion of haulage operators at the ports in Lagos.
Speaking to journalists on the protest, Inuwa Abdullahi, Vice Chairman Dry Cargo Section of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) described the extortion as real as it happens in broad daylight.
He said aside from the navy , all other uniform security agencies at the ports including those not on duty come around at nights to demand for money from the truck drivers.
Abdullahi added that the security agents create artificial traffic bottlenecks to give room for extortion and sometimes open spaces only for those who pay to have seamless passage.
Chief Information Officer of Western Naval Command, Commander Chinwe Umar described the allegation as false. She said it was not new for truck and tanker drivers to make baseless allegations against the Navy without evidence.
She challenged the leadership of haulage operators to come forward with evidence of extortion against any naval personnel.
Chike Oti, Police Public Relations Officer for Lagos State Police Command, could not be reached as at the time of this report as calls to his mobile line did not go through.
