DESPITE the ultimatum by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State ordering sanity along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, truck drivers and touts, yesterday, dared the governor to evict them.
It will be recalled that Governor Sanwo-Olu, last Friday, carried out an inspection tour of the axis with an ultimatum to the truckers to vacate the road or face the consequences.
Despite the partial compliance on Monday, the traffic situation worsened as touts returned to the Mile-2 axis unchallenged by the Police and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA.
The truck drivers, who claimed to have settled everyone involved in the traffic management along the route, are daring the Lagos State government to address the problem by tackling the root cause and other contributory factors, adding that truck drivers are human beings too.
A truck driver, who identified himself simply as Abdullahi, said: “From the look of things, everyone is blaming truck drivers, who are suffering untold hardship on the road while the police, LASTMA, NUPENG officials and area boys, who extort us are left to continue with their exploitations on us on daily basis.”
Abdullahi, therefore, urged the state government to convene a meeting of all the parties involved in the management of the axis with truck drivers to find a lasting solution to the problem.
“I am appealing to the government to meet with all the parties to find a lasting solution, otherwise their current effort is like scratching the surface of the matter,” Abdullahi said.
He noted that most of the officials mentioned are living on the sweat of the truck drivers, who spend days under the sun and rain with harassment from the officials and area boys.
Source: Vanguard
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