Mr Abdullahi Mohammed-Nura, the Lagos State Vice Chairman of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), has accused security operatives on Apapa- Oshodi expressway of corruption.
Mohammed-Nura alleged in an interview on Wednesday in Lagos that the operatives had turned the beat to a money-making venture.
He said that the security operatives were taking advantage of the unprecedented gridlock on the road to exploit road users.
“We are at a cross road, in a precarious state sort of because of the perennial traffic jam on this road for over a year now.
“The most annoying is that operatives supposedly posted to manage the crisis are taking advantage of the situation to extort money from drivers and transporters.
“They charge drivers N40,000 to aid them to maneuver to the fast moving lane referred to as official lane,” Mohammed-Nura said.
According to him, drivers who crave to load their vehicles fast, “settle them” and go straight to the loading or off-loading point, while those who cannot pay remain in the redundant line for weeks.
Mr Emeka Okoroafor, a truck driver, queried the essence of security operatives on the road, stressing that their conducts were heightening the gridlock.
“If one enters a lane from Mile Two Bus Stop and eventually sees an opportunity to join the official lane at Sunrise Bus stop without the operatives’ consent, you will be asked to turn and go to Mile Two to start all over which may take an entire day.
“The operatives are made up of several uniformed men including the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASMA),” Okoroafor said.
The driver, said that, the operatives only passed trucks whose drivers had “settled them”, leaving others to remain on the standstill indefinitely.
He appealed to the authorities to call the operatives to order, saying that they were making the cost of transportation of containers to go up.
Mr Idris Okikiola, a Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) official who was negotiating with a truck driver when approached by NAN, said that he was only charging the driver for repairing his truck while in the queue.
Okikiola said that his team, made up of officials of Nigerian Police, Navy and LASA, was assigned to control traffic on the road.
He denied that his team was engaged in any illegal practice.
Okikiola, however, said that the team had of late noticed that some operatives who were not assigned to the area, were coming to the place for unofficial duties. (NAN)
