No fewer than 10 deaths have been recorded among truck drivers and their assistants, while over 20 persons have been severely injured and hospitalized on account of roadside clashes with hoodlums on Lagos ports access roads.
The President of the Council of Maritime Truck Unions and Association (COMTUA), Mr. Adeyinka Aroyewun, revealed this during a virtual meeting with Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (MARAN), yesterday.
Aroyewun also lamented that non-state actors have wilfully vandalized COMTUA members’ trucks on Lagos road, thus, he called on the Lagos state government to end the menace.
He disclosed that the association had made several appeals to the Lagos State Government, the Nigeria Police Force as well as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), over the menace to no avail.
“We have been crying about this and I have made a lot of submissions on this, we have written over 50 letters appealing to the government to weed the vandals off the road,” he said.
Noting that several COMTUA members are not insured, he said; “we are working on this, educating our members on the importance of insurance. We have also written to Nigerian Insurance Association of Nigeria to partner with them to be able to be part of enforcement team and their pubic enlightenment team”.
”As we speak, they still vandalized trucks today. They will still vandalize it tomorrow because the extortion points and points of vandalisation have not been removed by the government.”
He opined that the Lagos State Government and the NPA recent removal of shanties along the port access roads was also claimed to eject hoodlums and extortion points on the roads.
“We are still pleading with the government to ensure that we get justice for the lives lost and severe injuries inflicted on our members,” the COMTUA boss said.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that the group, which comprises 7 associations, is constantly reviewing its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
“While some members feel there is no need to remain in the collaboration, some still see reason to remain in the collaboration. To remain in this, we are forming new alliances with the Lagos State Government. COMTUA is what it was and we are doing everything possible to improve the lives of our people,” he asserted.