By Seun Ibiyemi
After years of untold hardship and deaths, sanity during the weekend returned to Apapa, a once thriving port city brought to its knees by protracted traffic gridlock.
This followed the take off of the electronic call-up system (ETO) introduced by Nigeria Port Authority (NPA).
The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu reacting to the sanity of gridlock in the Lagos seaport access road said “We will continue to monitor and enforce these new changes so that we do not find ourselves back at square one.
“With this new development, citizens who reside and work in that axis are now able to move freely without the fear of traffic congestion or harassment on the roads.
“Members of the taskforce swung into action over the weekend, dismantling all illegal checkpoints on that route, and blocked all spots being used to extort money from drivers, and ultimately opened up all access roads leading to Apapa.
“The Apapa traffic menace will soon be history and together with Nigerian Port Authority, we have taken steps to make it a reality.”
A call up and coding system for trucks making use of the depots was initiated, and a joint taskforce was set up with a primary focus on the Apapa traffic.
Also reacting on illegal check point the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu announced the cancellation of some Police beats to aid free flow of vehicular traffic along Iponrin-Ijora end of the Eko bridge.
The illegal U-TURN on the bridge inward Apapa on Marine Bridge is now being closed, this will aid free flow of movement into Apapa most especially.
Recall that NPA had late last year announced the launch of Eto, an Electronic Truck call-up system designed for the management of truck movement and access to and from the Lagos Ports Complex and the Tin Can Island Ports, Apapa, Lagos.
The authority said all trucks doing business at the ports would be required to park at the approved truck parks until they were called up into the port through the Eto app.
NPA had explained that the Eto app will be responsible for the scheduling, entry and exit of all trucks from the ports with effect from February 27 (last Friday). It also stated that about 7,000 trucks had been certified fit for the digitalised call up system, revealing that effective February 27, trucks must approach the ports from a holding bay or truck parks with a bar code to access the ports.