Residents, Motorists Relieved As E-Call Up Begins In Apapa

It was a fresh breath of relief for residents and motorists plying the Apapa corridor with the take-off of electronic call-up system in the Lagos seaports.
A resident said the electronic solution had brought an end to years of agony he had faced on the route.

It was a fresh breath of relief for residents and motorists plying the Apapa corridor with the take-off of electronic call-up system in the Lagos seaports on Saturday.

Sanity was observed to be gradually returning to the Apapa corridor on Monday, thanks to the innovative approach initiated by the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) and the Lagos State Government.

A trucker, Usman Musa, welcomed the development, saying the electronic solution had brought an end to years of agony he had faced on the route. “It’s a new lease of life for truck operations around the seaports”, he stated.

“If anyone had told me there would be a time when traffic at Marine Beach would flow freely as being seen today (Monday), I would contest it. The last four years were agonising for most of us working in this area. I used to spend three hours for 15 minutes journey,” Musa said.

Following the launch of the e-Call Up platform and traffic enforcement in Apapa by joint Taskforce teams raised by the Lagos Government and NPA, bottlenecks contrived by law enforcement agencies and port officials were dismantled and trucks had cleared off the routes, resulting in free movement of traffic in Apapa.

Applauding the progress recorded, Musa said, “We support the action of the Government in solving this problem and we have started to comply with the order that prohibits parking our trailers on the highways.”

A transporter, Ismail Olaitan, admitted that the innovation introduced had reorganised the chaotic operation of trucks around the seaports, praising Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Managing Director of NPA, Mrs. Hadiza Bala Usman, for displaying strong will in enforcing the change.

He said, “We are happy with this development. When the electronic call-up system was launched at the weekend, most of our colleagues took their trucks off the roads and moved into Lilypond Terminal in compliance. This new system will bring about positive impacts on our business, and this is why we are embracing it with joy. The old system had only brought us pain and sorrow.”

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, dismantled all checkpoints mounted by the police along Apapa corridor from Surulere into the seaports.

According to the police boss, the checkpoints were part of the factors creating traffic along the Apapa corridor.

Odumosu warned that dire consequence awaits any officer who returns on the Apapa routes to create unapproved beat.

He, however, allowed a checkpoint in front of Sifax Depot for enforcement purpose only by men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA).