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The Association of Maritime Truck Owners has accused officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority of using hoodlums to threaten the lives of truck drivers operating in the state.
The truck owners also included some local government officials and the committee set up for the removal of abandoned trucks by the state government, alledging that they all extort them.
The Chairman, AMARTO, Remy Ogungbemi, in a letter on Sunday, said that the members often paid between N100, 000 and N200, 000 to these officials to secure the release of their trucks.
The letter read in part, “We are using this medium to draw the attention of the Lagos State Government on the worrisome and increasing ignoble activities of its traffic agencies and some local governments traffic departments in charge of traffic management and control in Lagos State.”
The association chair accused the committee on the removal of abandoned trucks of invading terminals at night to tow away parked trucks.
The letter further read, “For the Committee on the Removal of Abandoned Trucks, they invade various empty container depots at midnight to hijack trucks not constituting any road obstruction on the normal single lane to either drop or load empty containers. They always go with hoodlums that are armed with dangerous weapons. They beat and injure drivers and their motor boys in the process of hijacking trucks.
“They forcefully collect trucks from drivers and drive the trucks away to their various yards while booking the trucks as being towed. After this, they slam bills ranging between N100,000 to N200,000 as ransom before the trucks can be released. The amount can only be reduced if you know somebody at the top.
It added, “For LASTMA officials, they go about like hawks searching for chickens to catch. They arrest trucks that have not committed any traffic infraction indiscriminately and unnecessarily, day and night. In most cases, they don’t correct drivers on following the right way. if the driver misses or is about to miss his way, instead of correcting the driver, they’ll rather hide and wait for the driver to enter the wrong way before coming out to make an arrest and impose a heavy penalty.
“They arrest and slam penalty on any breakdown mechanism, including a truck that is inevitable. No amount of maintenance can totally prevent the breakdown of any mechanism anywhere in the world. The breakdown has become their means of bread and butter. They always impose N100,000- N150,000 just for removing a broken-down truck from the road whereas we normally pay N20,000 to N30,000 to private towing operators to move our broken-down trucks depending on the location and distances.”
