Truckers in the maritime industry have threatened to go on strike due to the increasing incidents of attacks on truck drivers, which have resulted in fatalities, extortion, and vehicle damage.
According to Vanguard, during a meeting on Wednesday, Lukmon Shittu, President of the Lagos State Truck and Cargo Committee, LASTCOC, a body comprising various truck unions and associations, urged the government to take action to address this disturbing trend, noting that many trucking and haulage businesses are currently operating at a loss.
Shittu further stated that these criminal activities have led to a sharp rise in the prices of goods and services.
He emphasized that the Committee has made numerous efforts to draw the attention of both the Lagos State and Federal Government to the issue, but no measures have been taken to curb the activities of the hoodlums terrorizing the streets of Lagos.
He said: “We are through this medium making a clarion call to Mr. President, the Inspector General of Police, National Security Adviser, the Director General of DSS, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and Chairmen of National Assembly Committees on Maritime Transport Affairs to come to the rescue of Maritime Transport Operators and our national economy and truckers from extortion bandits masking under leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN and Local Government workers to inflict economic loss and hardship on hardworking citizens.”
The truckers demanded that the Federal Government should declare an outright ban of mounting of road blocks and checkpoints for toll collection on major highways in line with sections of the Taxes and Levies act 2004 which prohibits any person, including a Tax Authority from mounting a Road block in any part of the Federation for the purposes of collecting any Tax or Levy.
Similarly, Oluwadare Ayilara, a truck owner, said that the continued extortion and activities of these hoodlums will be reflected on the prices of goods and services.
Sani Bala Vice President of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners, AMATO and trucker said the unchecked activities are compounding the inflationary trends currently being experienced in the nation economy.
(allnews.ng)
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