There was palpable tension at the Nigerian Ports
Authority (NPA) Lillypond Truck Transit Park at Ijora, Lagos State, on Thursday
as truck drivers and the officers of the state task force clashed over sundry
disagreements.
As pandemonium raged, hoodlums attacked the truck
facility leading to the burning of NPA patrol vehicles, two police vans and the
death of the yet-to-be-identified truck driver.
An eye witness account said trouble started two
days ago when the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation allegedly
went under the Lilypond/Ijora bridge to clear shanties and street trading from
the area, a development which was resisted by the street urchins (area boys)
who petted members of the Task Force with sachet water and stones to which policemen
attached to the Task Force responded by shooting tear gas at the hoodlums.
As at the time of filing this report, two police
Hilux vans set ablaze by the truck drivers were still burning at the Lilypond
terminal gate at the truck park.
The terminal is currently engulfed with a bonfire as
about two patrol vans and several other vehicles have been destroyed by
truckers.
The eye witness said the same Task Force came back
yesterday with reinforcement triggering the area boys to launch mayhem on the
facility, attacking properties and injuring innocent citizens.
The source said: “When officials of the Lagos State
Task Force came, they were arresting women who sell food and drinks under the
bridge, and the area boys at the scene prevented them from arresting the women
by hauling petals at them, and in the retaliation, the Task Force shut tear gas
and went away with about two or three women. The Task Force came back today
(yesterday) reinforced, which led to a clash between them and the area boys.”
The eye witness revealed that a truck driver who
was running for his life fell down and was stabbed to death by the hoodlums.
Condemning the attack, the General Manager,
Security of NPA, Mr. Olumide Omotoso, said the facility has been shut down
temporarily pending when the situation will be brought under control, adding
that business can only thrive in a secure and safe environment.
Omotoso said: “There is commotion and crisis in one
of our facilities, and we had to come to do an on-the-spot assessment to be
sure of what the actual situation is. The police have waded in, and we do not
want to jeopardise the investigation. However, we are on top of the game and we
have restored normalcy.”
He said the closure of the facility would be temporary,
adding that the police will tell when it will be opened.
On his part, the Vice-Chairman, Apapa Gridlock
Presidential Task Team, Kayode Opeifa, said the clash was between the Lagos Task
Force and the hoodlums.
According to him, the presidential task force was
not involved, it was the Lagos task force that came to remove the hoodlums
residing under the Ijora bridge.
However, the Chairman Association of Maritime Truck
Owners (AMATO), Remi Ogungbemi, alleged that the truck park was invaded by
hoodlums who were backed by the Nigeria Police.
Ogungbemi, who disclosed that he wasn't on ground
to know what really happened said it was the second time the attack was
happening.
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