Truck drivers and owners plying the ports in Lagos have called on the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to scrap its controversial electronic call-up system app named “eto”, because the system has failed and become a tool for extortion in the hands of the operators.
The President, Council of Maritime Transport Union Association (COMTUA), Yinka Aroyewun, said the operators have jettisoned the original idea behind the introduction of “eto” and created a situation whereby trucks can jump the queue after paying N20,000.
“The situation is that eto system has actually failed. If it has not failed, people will come at the allotted time and there will be no traffic to attract any form of fee. The system of ‘priority’ (for trucks that pay N20,000) has returned due to the failure of eto.
“Eto is not adding any value to the system, so there is a priority lane to people that can pay and to certain category of truckers that have been given privileges by the Truck Transit Park,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Chief Remi Ogungbemi, said, “As it is now, anything goes in the port and we all need to search ourselves because in some cases, it is the truckers themselves that will go and meet the security operatives to say their trucks are back of the queue and they want it to come forward.”
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