Trucker’s Extortion: MAJAN Recommends Solution to Hoodlum Activities At Truck -out Points
The Maritime Journalists’ Association of Nigeria (MAJAN) has praised the swift intervention of the Lagos State Government and Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) in preventing a planned strike by truckers, who were protesting against extortion and harassment by hoodlums along the Port Corridor. Their prompt response demonstrates a commitment to maintaining efficiency and security in port operations, ensuring uninterrupted trade and cargo movement.
At its monthly meeting held at Apapa, Lagos Secretariat, the Maritime Journalists’ Association of Nigeria (MAJAN) issued a formal statement addressing pressing national issues. The association urged the Lagos State Government and Nigerian Port Authority to intensify efforts to combat extortion along the Tin Can-Mile 2 Port Corridor. Specifically, MAJAN recommended the installation of security surveillance systems at strategic points to deter further infiltration by hoodlums and ensure a safe and secure environment for port operations.
The statement emphasized that security personnel manning the surveillance points must not exploit their position to create another extortion checkpoint, as this would undermine the initiative’s purpose. Additionally, MAJAN attributed the current economic hardship faced by Nigerians to the recent hike in petroleum pump prices and urged the government to implement measures to mitigate the adverse effects of this hardship on citizens.
“Government should give financial subvention, provide farming materials to farmers, subsidize transport fare, among others. Items such as fertilizer, seedlings, herbicides, water pumping machines and hoses, animal feeds, subsidized kids and calves should be made available to farmers as an encouragement to boost productivity,” the association said.
The group questioned the utilization of funds removed from subsidy, calling on the government to transparently disclose how the money has been allocated and which sectors of the economy have benefited. While urging the government to safeguard consumers from exploitation, MAJAN emphasized that Nigerians should also hold state governors and local governments accountable for the current economic hardship. The association noted that the monthly allocations to state and local governments are not being effectively utilized, contributing to widespread hardship.
The group also advised government to stop having temporary solutions to the nations economic problems, but should rather come up with deliberate economic plans to better the future of the country.
They also urged the government to revamp the refineries and get them working. It noted that if the refineries in the country are operational, the nation would not be having the current issues it is facing now. It therefore urged the senate and the government to tell Nigerians why the refineries have refused to function, even as government continues to pay salaries and allowances of the workers in those refineries.
Why noting the high rate of unemployment in the country, the group urged government to create an enabling environment for job creation, adding that government should make our economy a productive one and not a consumer economy, as it is presently.
The group tackled the growing concern of ‘One Chance’ highway robberies, where commuters are deceived into entering vehicles filled with armed robbers. To combat this menace, MAJAN urged the State Government to enhance security measures on highways and called on the Police to regularly inspect commercial vehicles, as they are frequently used by these brazen robbers to carry out their crimes.
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