Truck Owners under the umbrella of Amalgamation of Container Truck Owners Association of Nigeria (CACTOAN) have raised the alarm over the outrageous charges of the Lagos State government towing operators at the Apapa ports.
In a letter to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, the truck owners noted the outrageous charges of the Lagos towing operators are by far higher than that of the private operators.
The truck owners, who expressed concerns that the action of the towing operators constitute a major threat to the survivability of their business, alleged that the state operators do not allow truck owners to patronise private operators whenever their truck breaks down, forcing them to pay the exorbitant charges.
The letter signed by Ridwan Bello stated: “The economic loses we are suffering on a daily basis are so enormous to the extent that we can no longer meet our financial exigencies and sustain our business due to the outrageous non- receipted bills and fines being imposed on us under the pretext of removing our broken down trucks from the road by the state towing actors.
“Imposing a bill of N150,000 and above by towing operators for towing a broken down truck between the distance of 200 to 1,000 metres from the road is not only outrageous, lacking human face but injurious to the survival of our business.
“Contrast to the outrageous charge of the Lagos State Towing actors, the services of Private Towing Truck Operators are very moderate. And where we engage the service of Private Towing Operators, the state actors in most cases prevent them from removing our broken down trucks, even if the private tow truck is parking beside our broken down truck” he said.
It added: “Sincerely, we agreed totally that any truck that breakdown must be immediately remove, lest it impede traffic or cause accident that claim life or property, but the rate at which the state actors hunt for breakdown trucks is more than how hawks hunt for chickens to catch and it’s having a serious adverse effect on our business.”
The truck owners therefore appealed to the state government to allow them devise a quick and seamless method of removing their broken down trucks themselves from the road without rancour.
“We look forward to the approval of our request by the Lagos State Government as we have devised a quick and seamless method of removing our broken down trucks by ourselves from the road without rancour and much stress, just as stated in our previous letter that we are fully ready to commence the exercise by ourselves in collaboration with the body of Towing Truck Association,” the truck owners said.