Category: Transportation

…warns of crippled port operations, trade activities

The Apapa logistics corridor, once plagued by severe gridlock and operational inefficiencies, is at risk of returning to its chaotic past due to the alleged abuse of the Nigerian Ports Authority’s (NPA) direct evacuation call-up system.

Secretary of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Sani Mohammed, sounded the alarm, warning that unless immediate action is taken, Apapa’s roads will once again be overrun by trucks, crippling port operations, and trade activities. 

Mohammed, in an exclusive interview with The Nation, raised concerns over the commercialisation of the direct evacuation call-up system, which was originally designed for urgent cargo clearance. Instead, it has become a money-making scheme for unscrupulous actors who exploit the system for personal gain. 

“The NPA must checkmate this abuse in the interest of trade facilitation, traffic sanity, and the ease of doing business. If nothing is done, Apapa will descend into complete anarchy, and the economy will suffer,” Bala Mohammed cautioned.

He explained that a normal call-up costs N21,500, while a direct evacuation call-up is N10,000. But some people, who have access to the platform, he opined, generate these call-ups and sell them for as high as N150,000,” he disclosed. 

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According to him, middlemen have infiltrated the system, buying call-ups at lower rates and reselling them at inflated prices.

He said: “Some individuals who do not have cargo to evacuate from the ship are still applying for the direct evacuation call-up, only to resell it at a profit. This has turned the system into a commercial enterprise, with more people exploiting it instead of following the standard call-up process, which requires booking and waiting in line. 

“As a result, many truckers are now opting for this shortcut, bypassing the structured procedure entirely. If this trend continues, the roads leading to the ports will soon be overwhelmed with traffic, ultimately causing the collapse of the automation system.

“This would bring back the pre-call-up era of severe congestion and disorder in the Apapa logistics corridor, disrupting trade facilitation, the ease of doing business, and worsening port congestion, with negative consequences for Nigeria’s economy.”

The implications of this abuse, he warned, could be disastrous.

“As a result, many truckers are now opting for this shortcut, bypassing the structured procedure entirely. If this trend continues, the roads leading to the ports will soon be overwhelmed with traffic, ultimately causing the collapse of the automation system,” Mohammed stated. 

He painted a dire picture of what could happen if nothing is done, stating, “This would bring back the pre-call-up era of severe congestion and disorder in the Apapa logistics corridor, disrupting trade facilitation, the ease of doing business, and worsening port congestion, with negative consequences for Nigeria’s economy.” 

The growing problem is already visible, he noted. “Go to Apapa now, check adjoining streets, the bridges, and port corridors, you will see trucks clogging the roads because they are no longer following the standard procedure,” Mohammed observed. 

He traced the issue to the abuse of the direct evacuation call-up, which was originally meant for urgent shipments but has now been manipulated.

“The direct evacuation call-up system allows cargo owners with urgent shipments to move directly from the ship. But now, people are using it to move loads that have nothing to do with emergency cargo. Instead of booking their slots and following due process, they divert to other terminals and gain unauthorised access to the ports,” he lamented. 

This abuse has created an unfair advantage for those who bypass the system while others, who follow the proper process, face prolonged delays.

“People who are following the standard call-up process are being delayed unnecessarily. Meanwhile, those abusing the direct evacuation system are making multiple trips in a week. This disparity is creating tension among truckers, and if those who have been waiting for weeks decide to abandon the pre-gate process and join the direct call-up race, traffic sanity will collapse,” he warned. 

Reflecting on the initial purpose of the call-up system, Mohammed recalled the problems that plagued port operations before its introduction. According to him, before the introduction of the Electronic Call-Up (ETO), truck admission was manual, riddled with bribery and favouritism which took a serious toll on businesses as well as the nation’s economy.

The ETO automation system, he explained was introduced to address these inefficiencies by enforcing a structured truck movement process.

“All trucks must first enter a Satellite Park, then move to a pre-gate before being released into the ports on a first-come, first-served basis. This system was meant to bring order and efficiency to port operations,” he said. 

Now, with the abuse of the direct evacuation system, that order is being threatened.

“We will go back to the time when roads, bridges, and streets were filled with trucks. And it has already started happening,” he warned. 

AMATO is now calling on the NPA to act swiftly before the situation spirals out of control.

“If this trend continues, all the roads will be congested, and the automation system will eventually collapse. We will return to the pre-call-up era of traffic disorderliness and anarchy in the Apapa logistics corridor, to the detriment of trade facilitation, ease of doing business, and the Nigerian economy in general,” Mohammed concluded.