The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has convened a high-level stakeholders’ meeting aimed at restoring seamless logistics flow and tackling persistent complaints of jurisdictional overlaps, illegal roadblocks, and alleged extortion along the Apapa and Tin Can Island port access corridors in Lagos.
The meeting, held on Tuesday, brought together the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, alongside the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Maritime, AIG Nurat Okunade; representatives of the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation; the Secretary-General of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Godfrey Nwosu; the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Lagos Sector Command; and other critical stakeholders in the maritime logistics chain.
Senior NPA management, including the Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mrs. Vivian R. Eshiet; Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Engr. Lekan Badmus; and the General Manager, Security, Mr. Anthony Edosomwan, were also in attendance.
The discussions centred on resolving operational friction between security agencies, eliminating unauthorised checkpoints, and improving trade facilitation across Nigeria’s busiest port corridors.
Opening the engagement, the NPA Managing Director, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, said the meeting was convened to address entrenched operational challenges affecting port access and cargo movement.
He said:“This meeting is to the extent that we are trying to find lasting solutions to peculiar problems along the port corridor in Apapa and TinCan. Now we have established that there are issues around the corridor, that is outside the port in TinCan Island , because it is heading towards Berger and Isolo , and also outside the port, coming through off-road to Isolo. So that is one issue.”
“The second issue is the issue of overlap, jurisdictional overlap. In our system what is established is that there is a police command for the port system, Marina Police, and then there is also the Lagos State Police Command. So in some instances there are clashes, overlaps. That is number two.”
“Then number three, we looked at the issue of making all these things, the collaboration to be smoother, so that we can have a better operational corridor without the issue of distortion and delays that are being experienced by importers and exporters as well.”
“We have achieved a great lot of success in our discussions. We have to the extent that the Assistant Inspector-General Maritime Police has clearly stated that they do not send anybody to go and form roadblocks or checkpoints on the corridor.”
“Equally, the Lagos Police Command has said the same thing, which is a very pleasing information that we receive from them, because that has been what a lot of stakeholders were talking about. And therefore, if that is resolved, then we will see a better corridor functionality. That is number one.”
“And then also on the issue of collaboration to ensure more efficiency… what we have committed ourselves to ensure is that we create a very sweet and environmentally acceptable standard, so that the emphasis will be that we are going to function and then function better in our practises, so we can do better than our neighbouring countries.”
“We have been emphasising that we must do as much as we can so that we are now the leading ports in West and Central Africa, and even in Africa and in the world.”
“Our port system inside the port has recently been confirmed as one of the most improved in the world by the World Bank… So I want to thank you for coming to support us and cooperate and support us.”
“I also want to thank you and be happy to tell you that we have achieved a great success from this meeting. The discussions were of high quality, and the outcome is also high quality.”
Representing security stakeholders, Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Maritime Okunade Ronke Nurat also announced an agreement to establish a joint enforcement structure to address jurisdictional conflicts and illegal activity along the corridor.
She said:“I want to say at this point that we have really seen a lot, and that we will see the deliberation all along all the parties that are involved here. So just take one way forward or the other, so that we can all work together collaboratively to achieve the purpose of this meeting.”
“On the issue of the overlapping decision, we have been able to agree that we are going to form a task force between Legal State and the Nigeria Port Authority and all the stakeholders so that we can get a smooth operation around the Port Authority environment.”
“So I want to give you an assurance that if you see any police officer on the road claiming to have come from either Zone 2 or Maritime Authority, it’s a very big guy. That person can be brought to work. We have decided that we have a way of getting the matter reported to the appropriate authority so that necessary action can be taken.”
“We talked about the police alert points, which are known and recognised points… those were the recognised points. So at this juncture, I want to tell you that it has been a very, very useful discussion and now we see better service delivery around the Port Authority.”
Representing the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, Engineer Olasunkanmi Olasokunmi described the outcome as “progressive,” noting that no agency would operate independently on the corridor.
He said: “The delivery of today has been very progressive. We all know that Mr. Governor is very passionate about transportation and traffic management… That is why it is the first pillar in Mr. Governor’s team’s bus agenda.”
“Arising from this meeting, I am directed to reiterate the commitment of Nigeria State Government, Ministry of Transportation, to the decisions reached here. That is, we are working together as a team with all the necessary stakeholders and that no single entity of the state can just go into the Port and carry out operations without the joint agreement that we have formed together today.”
“So we all agree together to fight the team for monitoring, for enforcement, and for reporting in order to see a successful Port operations and ease of doing business in Nigeria State and Nigeria as a whole.”
Responding to questions on alleged extortion and illegal checkpoints, the representative of Assistant Inspector-General Zone 2 Olohundare Moshood Jimoh dismissed the claims, insisting no officers had been deployed to the port access roads.
He said: “ As far as Zone 2 is concerned, Zone 2 has no business in the corridor of Port Authority. And for that, we have no agency to do that.”
“We have never posted any officer or any junior officer to any point at the port. I’m representing AIG Zone 2. We are the one in charge of hosting. We have never posted an officer to any point at Port Authority.”
The National Secretary of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Mohammed Sanibala, described the situation as damaging to trade and logistics efficiency.
He said:”We come back here today to look at critical issues that are taking serious toll on our port operation, truck operation, and also sabotaging use of business and trade facilitation in the ports.”
“And we are glad that the representatives of AIG Zone 2, AIG Maritime, the Lagos State Police Command, all acknowledged the fact that they never sent anybody to checkpoints along the port. They collected money from truckers.”
“And we are also happy that there is going to be a committee that will comprise the government agency, the freight forward, the association, and also the trucking association, to jointly address this extortion issue that is crippling truck operations, and also put operation in the best interest of truck facilitation, ease of doing business, and seamless evacuation of cargo from the ports.”
Raising concerns on enforcement on the corridors, a stakeholder questioned the regulation of road actors and alleged brutality against drivers.
The Lagos State representative responded:
“Well, this question is beyond transportation. Let us be factual. It speaks to security. So, when there are security lapses, you have illegitimate or illegal individuals on the streets, or on our roads, perpetrating extortion.”
“So, I think it’s one of the issues that has also been addressed here, that we all need to work together. The police are in charge of security. The Nigerian Postal Authority is in charge of the goods coming in and leaving the country. We have the stakeholders, who are the truckers themselves. We have Federal Road Safety, who is in charge of safety protocols.”
“We often arrest and prosecute those individuals where we catch them.”
Concluding the session, participants expressed optimism that the coordinated framework would deliver lasting reform on the port access corridors.
The Secretary-General of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Godfrey Nwosu said :“The principal owners of the issues discussed here, the team heads, are the ones who have given us insurance. We’ve heard from the Yaji Maritime. We’ve heard from the Commission of Police. And we have also heard from the landlord of the Maritime Authority, the MD himself.”
“Issues that we took into account here this afternoon, goes beyond our imaginations. And there’s no big secret here. We’re leaving this meeting today reassured, confident, that we’re going to have a new beginning moving forward.”
Boluwatife Enome
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