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By Steve Agbota
Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) has lamented that the activities of corrupt enforcement architecture assigned to ensure free flow of traffic on Port access roads frustrating electronic call-up system known as ‘Eto’ and fueling traffic gridlock on the port corridors.
In a statement by the Secretary General of AMATO, Mohammed Sani, and made available to Daily Sun yesterday, said that it is not Eto call up that responsible for gridlock along the port access roads.
According to him, it is the activities of the compromised enforcement architecture and hoodlums mounting several checkpoints responsible for the gridlock currently experiencing around the port corridors.
“My attention has been drawn to the misinformation going round that the eto call up system is the root cause of gridlock along the access roads leading to the ports. It important set the record straight without bias and prejudice.
“It is not Eto call system that failed or collapsed. Rather, it is the enforcement architecture that is suppose to ensure free flow of traffic for electronic call to function efficiently that is compromised by unscrupulous elements of the security/traffic enforcement team. “Eto releases trucks from pregates to the ports base on truck request from the seaport terminals.
By the time these trucks enter the roads, security/traffic operatives, hoodlums and union thugs would intercept these trucks at multiple checkpoints on the roads for several days before allowing them to pass after collecting money from the drivers,” he explained.
He added that drivers that are unable to to pay are delayed, their trucks are damaged and LASTMA is invited to come and toy away these trucks for refusing to pay money despite having valid call up to access the ports.
He added that the multiple checkpoints mounted by security/traffic operatives, hoodlums and union thugs selling tickets to truckers not belonging to RTEAN and NURTW are the major factors frustrating efficient performance of eto call up.
“Therefore, it is poverty of justice and fairness to pass vote of no confidence on eto call. Before the coming of eto, truckers used to pay up to N350,000 to access the port but under eto call arrangement, you only book eto call up at N21,500 for your truck from anywhere in the world without begging or knowing anybody to access the port within few days unlike the pre-eto period where you have to kiss some cabal boots and spend over month trying to access the port with N300,000.
“Those that are overlooking the human factors interrupting the operation of eto call up and passing vote of no confidence on eto are doing so out of anger and frustration because the call system has rendered most of them jobless and irrelevant in the maritime trucking industry. They have lost all the privileges they used to enjoy before the coming of eto call up,” he added.
He said Eto call up has cancelled the outrageous N300,000 they used to charge for truck to access the port, adding that no trucker is coming to prostrate for them to gain access to the ports N300,000. They are doing everything possible day and night to blackmail and get eto call up system sacked to enable them come back and make money from traffic anarchy to the detriment of Nigeria’s trade facilitation, ease of doing business and seamless evacuation of cargoes from the Nigerian ports.
“I urge the Nigerian Government to address the artificial barriers of extortion mounted by security/traffic, hoodlums and union thugs along the ports access roads that are causing traffic gridlock for smooth operation of eto call up system in the best interest of National economic progress and prosperity.
“Most of our export goods value depreciates before getting to international due to artificial barriers along the port access roads. Nigerian local exporters are losing their foreign buyers due to late spoiling and late arrival of export goods from Nigeria.
“The government should also provide call up system and pregate parks for Tanker Truck Operators in order to decongest the Oshodi Tincan Mile 2 corridor. Instead of coming to block the road in their effort to access their fuel depots, Tanker Trucks should go to a park where they would be batched to their respective depots base on request from such depots,” he advised.
However, he said the traffic/security enforcement architecture should be calibrated to enhance traffic sanity and orderliness for smooth operation of eto call up system and seamless evacuation of cargoes to and from the ports.
