The Port Manager of Lagos Port Complex (LPC) Apapa, Mrs Fumilayo Olotu, has narrated how she was attacked and pelted with stones when she embarked on an assessment of some private properties on Creek Road, Apapa that were allegedly converted to illegal jetties and trucks terminals.
Olotu, who spoke at a stakeholders meeting organised by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) to find ways of addressing the perennial gridlock in Apapa, was reacting to claims by the Vice Chairman, Presidential Task Team on Apapa gridlock, Kayode Opeifa that the terminals and jetties were operating illegally with the approval of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Olotu, who confirmed that virtually all residential buildings in Apapa that have waterfront were being converted to jetties maintained that NPA did not license any of them.
She said, “We know the jetties that we licensed and there is a list we can make available. When we heard about it, we were mandated to go to Creek Road and inspect the illegal jetties and we went there. But I was pelted with stones because they did not want us to get there. So we had to take another style. We went by water under cover and we took our picture and reported it.”
Chairman of Apapa Residents Association, Brigadier Ago Vaughan, who also confirmed the development, said, “What we have discovered is that some business owners in the commercial area of Apapa bought properties in the GRA and turned them into jetties and truck base.
“We still enjoy the serenity of Apapa GRA and it is the only place where you have nature and peace and we want to remain so because others have been destroyed. We are fighting against this and we have written to the Lagos State Government to help us maintain the status of the GRA.”
