The National Coordinator of the Presidential Port Standing Task Team (PSTT), Moses Fadipe, has revealed how a former Area Commander, Area B Police Command, Apapa, one ACP Umar Dikwa and others made money illegally from truckers on the Apapa port access road.
Fadipe, who is also the Director, South West Zone of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), made the revelation in his new book titled “Nigeria And Global Maritime Industry”, which was launched at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos, on Thursday.
The book launch was attended by many dignitaries including the representative of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola; Executive Secretary/CEO of NSC, Barr. Akutah Pius Ukeyima; Managing Director of PTML, Ascanio Russo; former Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Mrs Chinwe Ezenwa and former National President, Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu. The event also was also witnessed by the representatives of Nigeria Customs Service; Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Department of State Security (DSS), terminal operators and royal fathers.
The book was reviewed by the CEO, Convention on Business Integrity (CBI), Olusoji Apampa, while the chief launcher was the Chairman of Sifax Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, represented by Muyiwa Akande.
Under Chapter 8 of the 382-page book, Fadipe narrated the events of a day he said he would “never forget in a hurry” when the Presidential Port Standing Task Team (PSTT), which was set up in March 2021 to rid the port of corruption and free the port corridors, raided some illegal truck checkpoints in Apapa between 11pm and 4am and arrested some people who were extorting money ranging from N30,000 to N100,000 from truck drivers.
He said the PSTT operatives took the arrested persons to Area B police station in Apapa pending their transfer to Ikoyi the following day.
“By 8am, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Area B put a call to me saying the Area Commander requested for my phone number which I obliged him to give. To my surprise, the Area Commander, ACP Umar Dikwa called to know who I was and the audacity I had to arrest people within his police jurisdiction without prior information to him, even as he demanded I release the suspects to him.
“I told him who we were and even reminded him of correspondences at his disposal and even records of his command’s engagement with the PSTT. Following this, he requested that I come to his office before taking the suspects away. We then agreed to meet at 11am. At 11am, I arrived at the Area B Police Station with eleven operatives made up of ICPC, DSS, NSC and three surveillance personnel. I went to the DPO’s office who in turn took me and my team to the Area Commander.
“On seeing us, he asked the DPO and his personal staff to usher us into the Conference Room. While waiting, he came and asked that we keep away our mobile phones of which I demanded the reason. All of a sudden, some personnel armed with AK-47 rifles swooped on us and attacked the armed DSS personnel that accompanied us,” the author narrated.
He said in the heat of the commotion, he told the DSS personnel not to put up resistant in order to avoid “tragic consequnces”.
Continuing, the author said, “We were then detained and tortured from 11am to 6pm with the intention of pressuring us into releasing the suspects. The Area Commander sent a signal to the Lagos State Police Command that the police jurisdiction was under attack by the PSTT, even as they were able to withstand our firepower while retrieving 45 live ammunition from us.
“As this was going us, our surveillance team cordoned off the entire area, making it difficult for even the Area Commander to leave if push comes to shove. At 4pm, phone calls from higher authorities started coming into his mobile phone as this forced him to start pleading and apologising for his actions. I told him it is part of the operational hazards, even as I demanded custody of the suspects.
Fadipe said a “verbal profiling” revealed that all the six suspects were “ancillary to the office of the Area Commander and three other government agencies saddled with the responsibility of maintaining sanity and security”.
“It was a shocking and damning revelation, even as I later took the suspects away at 6.30pm of the same day. The encounter was the last straw that broke the camel’s back and brought an end to reckless impunity of the cabal responsible for the perennial Apapa gridlock.
“All those involved in the illegal activities, including the Area Commander were interrogated and appropriate disciplinary action meted out to them,” the author stated.
Oyetola, Ukeyima commend Fadipe
Meanwhile, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola has described Moses Fadipe as a highly valuable citizen of Nigeria.
The Minister who was represented by Olayinka Olusanya, commended the Port Standing Task Team (PSTT) under Fadipe’s leadership.
“Beyond writing a book, editing and publishing, we should go to the next level of ensuring that we implement everything that he has put in place and written down for the overall benefits of this nation,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary/CEO of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Barr. Akutah Pius Ukeyima, described Fadipe as a restless person, who goes beyond the call of duty to achieve the tasks assigned to him.
“We saw what he did in freeing the port corridor in terms of the madness that was going on there and to try to bring about efficiency of the port system to encourage trade in the country. I believe he is one man in more than twenty,” the boss said.
He said the book “Nigeria and Global Maritime Industry” reflects Fadipe’s personal encounter and experience in his thirty years service to the nation.
“It will be a guiding light from where we would move forward to develop this blue economy that His Excellency Mr. President has set before us,” Ukeyima said.
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