Apapa Gridlock 50 per cent cleared, says Opeifa

The Team lead of the Presidential Committee on clearing of Apapa port and access roads Comrade Kayode Opeifa on Sunday said the gridlock has been cleared by 50 percent.

He said the clearing of trucks on Apapa port and access roads are moving steadily and the roads would soon be totally cleared of trucks.

His assessment came barely 24 hours after the expiration of the Presidential Order issued on Wednesday, ordering the clearing of all trucks from the Apapa port and roads.

Opeifa, who was representing the Chairman of the Committee and Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo, scored the exercise “as above average” within the first 24 hours of the deadline. He said the cleanup is going on and that most of the roads would be cleared of all trucks by Monday.

The President in issuing the order set up a task force headed by Vice president Yemi Osinbajo to clear the Apapa gridlock and its environs within two weeks.

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“The Taskforce, which will report directly to the President, has included on its Terms of Reference the development of an efficient and effective management plan for the entire port area traffic, including the cargo, fuel distribution, and business district traffic.”

Speaking with reporters on Sunday, Opeifa said most of the roads especially the only leading to the port have been cleared.

He said because of the nature of the vehicles, and the huge numbers involved, trucks could still be found on the roads but efforts are being made to clear as much of them as possible off the road.

According to him; “The trucks could not comply fully because of their number, however, we are using a combination of stakeholder engagement, traffic management direction and enforcement to clear up to port road inside Apapa. This is also backed up by a manual call up system by the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), which has started using the newly deployed empty container return yard at Lillypond Terminal. This is the centre point for empty container return as well as call up stag in deployment point for port access.”

The Nation checks on Sunday showed that Eko Bridge is totally cleared of all trucks, No single trucks can also be seen on Ijora Olopa, the only spot where trucks are seen on Sunday was at Brewery, at Ijora.

In a telephone interview, the National Chairman of Association of Maritime Transport Operators of Nigeria (AMARTO), Chief Remi Ogungbemi said the compliance rate is encouraging. He rated the compliance level at above 50 percent.

Ogungbemi is the chairman of the containerized truck operators.

He said; “We are complying and we have started moving away from the roads. You know we are talking of trailers here, so the clearing cannot be automatic, but I want to assure Nigerians that by tomorrow, Monday, we would have seen remarkable difference. If you go to Eko Bridge, you cannot find a single truck there, all the trucks have been removed. Same at Ijora Olopa area, around brewery there are still some trucks, you know they cannot stop operation. Port operation has to continue. It is only when they stop operation at the port that they can stop all vehicles and push all the vehicles outside. I think the situation is appreciable now. No cause for alarm. Though we have not achieved 100 percent but I can assure that our members are complying and Apapa roads would be cleared of all gridlock soon.

He said though there are hiccups, things are being straightened out and compliance is improving.

“We are human beings there’s no perfection anywhere, there are still some hiccups here and there which is normal, but everything is being resolved and vehicles are being evacuated without any issue.”