OSHODI-APAPA EXPRESSWAY: LAGOS ISSUES 4-DAY ULTIMATUM TO TANKERS, TRAILERS TO VACATE ROAD
The Lagos State Government has said it would confiscate tankers and trailers found on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway at the expiration of the four-day ultimatum issued to the owners to remove vehicles parked on the highway.
It was gathered that the resolve of the government to wield the big stick necessitated an emergency meeting with major stakeholders such as the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), among others. The government, in consonance with earlier decision taken by Governor Babatunde Fashola, pissed off by the high level of nuisance perpetrated by the tanker and trailer drivers, vowed to dislodge them to allow smooth flow of traffic in the area.
To this end, the state government warned that if by 12 midnight on Sunday, owners of the trucks failed to remove them, the government would impound the vehicles. Speaking with journalists after the meeting, the state's Commissioner for Transport, Kayode Opeifa, said the government could no longer fold its arms to allow such display of lawlessness in the state, saying by Monday morning, the tanker and trailer drivers who failed to comply would have their vehicles towed.
According to him, 'government wants you to do business but it does not want you to inconvenience others. Enough is enough. We want to make sure the Apapa Expressway, all through to Ijora bridge, is free of traffic.
'We want to see that the road that leads to Tin Can is also free and that the police station at Ijora to Ports is free of traffic. We want to see that tankers on Creek Road are evacuated so that the road can be free. All shanties under Liverpool Bridge should be cleared. We seek your cooperation to ensure that your people remove their vehicles from the road. Those people whose towing vehicles have broken down on the road should also remove them.' Also speaking, Sulaiman, the task force boss, said all routes to Apapa must be free, adding that tanker drivers should not cultivate the habit of parking their vehicles on the road as his men were ready to swing into action.
Lending his voice, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ademorin Kuye, appealed to people trading under the bridge at Liverpool to vacate the area as the place was known to habour criminals. He said tanker drivers and trailers should not endanger the lives of people in the area as Apapa served as one of the hub of business activities of the nation. Representatives of the various unions in the area agreed to comply with the ultimatum issued by the government.