ETO Crisis, Port Access Extortion Heightens Nigeria’s Inflation – Shippers Council

By Kenneth Jukpor

 

The challenges associated with the electronic truck call-up system (ETO) and multilayered extortion points on the Lagos ports access roads have been identified as additional factors responsible for inflation in Nigeria.

Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) made this assertion yesterday, while presiding over a meeting of truckers under the aegis of the Council of Maritime Transport Union and Associations (COMTUA), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Lagos State Ministry of Transportation.

Speaking at the conference, the Executive Secretary of NSC, Hon. Emmanuel Jime, represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs, Chief Cajetan Agu, lamented that the activities of security agencies and non-state actors (agberos) along the port corridors have added huge fiscal burdens on importers.

Agu explained that all additional costs are eventually factored into the prices of imported goods as the importers must make profits.

In a bid to remove the extortion points also known as checkpoints on the port access roads, the NSC boss called for a synergy between truck transit parks (TTP) and the seaport terminals to ensure that only the vehicles required to fill the available space at the ports are called to access the ports from the TTPs.

Speaking earlier, the Secretary of COMTUA Board of Trustees (BoT), Mr. Godwin Ikeji stated that truckers had agreed to support ETO in the past with expectations that the system would be devoid of human interface which breeds corruption.

Ikejj said: “we were made to believe that ETO would have no human interface but that has become a mirage. ETO administrators even ask complainants to chat them privately to get their problems resolved instead of putting in place efficient structures that wouldn’t require frequent interference.”

“ETO costs N21,700 for each truck call-up for flat bed, empty container and exports. The prices have been very inconsistent and rose to N31,000 at one point. Between Mile 2 and Tin Can Port, truckers spend N40,000 to N70,000 collected to pass about 18 checkpoints on the road. The money is collected by security agencies through thugs and their cronies.”

Meanwhile, he pointed out that there was a lack of synergy between the seaport terminals and TTPs as trucks released from the TTPs still spend over 3 days to access the ports.

On his part, the Port Manager of Tin Can Island Port, Mr. Jubril Buba, represented by Mr. Anda Emmanuel described ETO as a work in progress, even as he encouraged the truckers to stick to the single lines alloted to them and not seek to maneuver the system.

According to the NPA boss, some truckers have also continued to litter the port access roads and TTPs without any business in a bid to source for jobs.

While he noted that the technology used at the TTP gates also pose challenges as it takes upto ten minutes to pass a single truck and sometimes server breakdown prevents access for hours, he appealed to the truckers to be more patient with the process.

Also speaking at the meeting, the National Organizing Secretary of COMTUA, Mr. Dike Ekene Collins accused LASTMA operatives of deceiving truck drivers to disembark from their vehicles in a bid to tow trucks to their offices to extort truckers.

Collins appealed to the Lagos State government to curb the excesses of its team for removal of abandoned vehicles, lamenting that trucks which only broke down but could be fixed in less than 5 minutes, are being dragged as abandoned vehicles and slammed colossal charges.

In his response, an Assistant Director at Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, Engr. Olayinka Olawale encouraged the truckers to call the LASTMA operatives to request towing services that would be paid, stressing that when the government discovers and evacuates the vehicles other penalties will be charged.

Olawale also encouraged truckers to invest in towing vehicles and truck parks in a bid to evacuate their vehicles before the government finds out about the logistics challenge.