There was pandemonium on Thursday at the entrance of Lagos Ports Complex, Apapa as policemen shot sporadically into the air to disperse truck drivers, who had gathered to protest alleged incessant harassment and extortion by security officials at the port gate.
SHIPS & PORTS DAILY gathered that the protest by the horde of truck drivers and their motor boys precipitated pandemonium that attracted a large crowd of onlookers who were caught in the ensuing melee.
Narrating the cause of the protest by the truck drivers, an eyewitness said, “Last night a policeman used the stock of his gun to hit the head of a truck driver for no good reason and the drivers felt that the harassment was becoming too much. Today they came to show their anger and that’s why you see all of them gathered at the gate.”
However, no sooner had the protesters gathered than commotion broke out as some of the truck drivers and motor boys engaged security officials, who barred them from entering the port, in fisticuffs.
In the ensuing commotion, policemen attached to the port started shooting sporadically into the air, leading to many port users scampering for safety.
A security official of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) reportedly sustained injury during the fracas with the truck drivers.
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