23rd November, 2016
Some residents of Apapa, Lagos, have renewed calls on the Federal and Lagos state governments, to instruct articulated and truck drivers in the area to allow them have access to their homes.
They made the call on Wednesday in Lagos.
The residents said the drivers have blocked access to Apapa permanently and made it difficult for them to move to and from their homes.
One of the residents, Shaibu Saleh, a businessman, said that the attitude of these drivers was no longer tolerable.
“It has become permanent thing now to see articulated vehicles and trucks blocking the road from Tin Can up to Mile 2, thereby preventing resident’s access to their houses.
“In a country where there is law and order, this kind of thing cannot be happening.
“We, therefore, call on the Federal and Lagos state governments to come to our aid,” he said.
Another resident, Mrs Lola Badamosi, also decried the situation.
She said, “In the past, we used to have some access, though it was difficult, but in the last few weeks, these trucks are parked on every part of the road from Mile 2 to Tin Can.
“Living in Apapa right now is like living in bondage and we appeal to the concerned authorities to do something fast.”
Miss Feyi Lemo, a banker, said that the problem was compounded by deplorable state of roads in the area and the unruly attitude of drivers.
“Commercial vehicles going to Apapa now stop at Mile 2 and we now have to complete the journey on commercial motorcycle.
“We all know that the road is bad and needs urgent attention, but that should not be an excuse for the unruly attitude of the truck drivers.
“Apart from the risk involved in taking commercial motorcycle on that road, we also face the risk of accidents because containers fall here every other day,” she said.
A food vendor in the area, Mrs Lara Oluwafemi, also appealed to the government to fix the road.
“Government knows what to do if it cares about our sufferings.
“This road is very important to government because of the ports, it generates revenue for the government so why neglecting it,” she queried.
NAN reports that Apapa has become inaccessible from Mile 2 due to a stretch of tankers parked on the road from Tin Can Port waiting to load petroleum products.