- ‘Motor-boy’ blames death on cruel beating by Naval officers
By Kenneth Jukpor
One truck driver was found dead in his truck this morning while moving an empty container belonging to ZIM to Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT) at Tin Can Second Gate.
The deceased was found dead in the wee hours today, by his assistant driver who brought him his breakfast while on a queue going to TICT.
Speaking to MMS Plus newspaper on the incident, a member of the Truck Union Task Force at Tin Can, Mr. Adebayo Lawal narrates the incident; “Around 7am this morning, some truckers rushed to call us because one truck driver died inside his vehicle. According to the assistant driver popularly known as the ‘motor-boy’ the driver was beaten by Navy officers around Mile 2 the previous day and he had been ill since the merciless beating.
“The motor-boy lamented that there was no money to take the driver to the hospital or buy him medicine as the monies on them had been disbursed for settlements (bribe) to several security personnel and touts along the port access roads” he said.
Lawal who is also a member of the National Association of Road Transport Owners(NARTO) Mr. Lukman Adebayo Lawal, said the incident was as a result of stress from the Apapa traffic but he also expressed worry that the driver was beaten mercilessly by Naval officers at Mile 2.
The deceased driver died inside the 40ft container where he slept with the assistant driver. However, the assistant driver only realized that he was dead after he purchased food and attempted waking up the deceased to eat.
The details of the deceased was yet to be ascertained as press time as neither NARTO nor the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) could identify the dead driver who was rushed to the nearby Naval morgue.
Lawal caled on the Federal Government to come to the rescue of truck drivers by ensuring that a lasting solution was provided to correct the Apapa traffic gridlock.
Speaking with MMS Plus on this unfortunate incident the Chairman of AMATO, Chief Remi Ogungbemi also cried out to the Federal Government to ease the burden of truck drivers by resolving the Apapa traffic chaos.
“I’m just getting this information. I’m not in Lagos at the moment but it is unfortunate that the driver has lost his life. Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), shipping companies and the entire maritime community should be ashamed of the mess in Apapa port” he said.
