Residents and motorists plying the Apapa corridor have expressed relief with the take-off of the electronic call-up system in the Lagos seaports on Saturday.
Sanity was observed returning to the Apapa corridor, according to a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary of the Lagos State Government, Gboyega Akosile.
A trucker, Usman Musa, welcomed the development, saying the electronic solution had brought an end to years of agony he had faced on the route. It’s a new lease of life for truck operations around the seaports, he stated.
Another transporter, Ismail Olaitan, admitted that the innovation introduced had reorganised the chaotic operation of trucks around the seaports, praising Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala-Usman, for displaying strong will in enforcing the change.
He said, “We are happy with this development. When the electronic call-up system was launched at the weekend, most of our colleagues took their trucks off the roads and moved into Lilypond Terminal in compliance.
“This new system will bring about positive impacts on our business, and this is why we are embracing it with joy. The old system had only brought us pain and sorrow.”
Commissioner of Police, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, dismantled all checkpoints mounted by the police along the Apapa corridor from Surulere into the seaports, according to the statement titled ‘Residents, motorists excited as Apapa gridlock eases off.’
According to the police boss, the checkpoints were part of the factors creating traffic along the Apapa corridor.
Odumosu warned that dire consequence awaited any officer who returned on the Apapa routes to create an unapproved beat.
He, however, allowed a checkpoint in front of SIFAX Depot for enforcement by men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority.
