Apapa: Haulage cost from Lagos ports drops as traffic situation improves

…extortion still ongoing but at reduced rate, truckers allege

Following the slight improvement in traffic situation in and out of Apapa, Nigeria’s premier port city, the cost of moving laden containers out of Apapa and Tin-can Island ports to importers’ warehouses within and outside Lagos has reduced significantly two months after the Presidential Task Team on Apapa Gridlock commenced operations. However, the first three days up to Thursday last week were quite challenging for motorists and residents of the port city as the trucks came back forcefully, making access to the city very difficult. The cost of transporting one by 40- foot container

within Lagos has reduced to N300,000-N400,000 from N700,000-N800,000, while cost of moving one by 20foot container dropped to N250,000- N230,000 from N500,000-N600,000. Also, transporting one by 40-foot container to warehouse outside Lagos dropped to N700,000-N800,000 from N1 million- N1.3 million, while transporting one by 20-foot container now costs between N500,000-N600,000 from N750,000-800,000. Tony Anakebe, managing director, Gold-link Investment, who confirmed this to Businessday in an interview, attributed the reduction to the reduced volume of business activities at ports as well as the reduction in the level of extortion on truckers by traffic managers. The challenges experience on Apapa roads last week created much concern, especially for the residents who concluded that the trucks and gridlock were back. But that, according to Kayode Opeifa, executive vice chairman of the Presidential Task Team, was simply a flash in the pan, explaining that the challenge experienced within those days was caused by tankers that were rushing to the ports to lift fuel in readiness for the Sallah holiday. “That challenge was expected and normal at a time like this when there will be two days holiday for the Sallah celebration; all the depots wanted to stock fuel because they won’t be lifting fuel on Monday and Tuesday because of the public holidays,” Opeifa explained to Businessday in an interview at the weekend, assuring that the roads would be free again after “this rush”. The cost of transporting containers skyrocketed when the congestion on Apapa road became unbearable as the then security operatives (in charge of controlling traffic on Apapa roads) comprising Navy and Army officers and others capitalised on the gridlock to extort money from truckers in exchange for access to the ports. Businessday findings show that the recent conversion of the Lilypond Container Terminal and Tin-can Island Trailer Park to truck holding- bay by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), where manual call-up on