One shot as truckers, hoodlums, clash at Tin Can Port

Hell was let loose on Wednesday at the Tin Can Island Port, Lagos, as hoodlums allegedly attacked truck drivers around coconut bus stop in Apapa.

The melee left an unidentified truck driver shot, while four others who were matcheted.

According to eyewitnesses, the crisis was fuelled by the fact that truck drivers were denied passage through Ajegunle axis by the area boys.

Confirming the development, Alhaji Innua Mohammed, Chairman of Dry Cargo section of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) said the fight began early in the morning.

Innua confirmed that officials of the union were attacked by the hoodlums who were alleged members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW)

“At night, these area boys mobilised themselves with police escorts from Trinity Police Station, some of the drivers that were sleeping in their trucks were shot, matcheted and trucks were destroyed, they wanted to start burning some trucks”

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“Apart from the driver they shot with their locally made pistol, we have about four people they macheted”

According to nigeriamaritime360.com, a maritime industry online publication, one of the drivers said the area boys were annoyed that trucks have hindered free movement of their buses coming out from Ajegunle area.

He alleged that the area boys got help from LASTMA officials and blocked the main expressway coming out from Tin Can Port, so as to give way for buses coming out from Ajegunle.

The publication further quoted Mohammed: “We were in the truck, we didn’t even know what was going on, all of a sudden we saw the area boys coming out and machetted us and shooting at us, I have personally taken three people to the hospital”

“My conductor is currently at the hospital, they have extracted eighteen bullets from his body already”

“The boys were escorted by police, the area boys were shooting guns while the police was shooting their teargas”

“These area boys are National Union of Road Transport Workers, they said it is because their trucks were not having access to move freely”

He alleged that the hoodlums extort as much as N80,000 from trucks trying to pass through Ajegunle in order to beat traffic.