Association of Maritime Truck Owners has accused the committee created by Lagos State government to remove abandoned vehicles from the roads of collecting between N150,000 and N250,000 to release an impounded truck.
The chairman of AMARTO, Remy Ogungbemi, who stated this on Monday, called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to scrap the committee.
He described the activities of the committee as robbery of truckers.
Ogungbemi, however, alleged that members of the committee move around with armed thugs, ostensibly to intimidate the truckers.
His words, “It has become expedient for us to draw your attention to the unsavoury activities of the committee.
“They attack various empty container depots and garages to assault drivers, forcefully hijack and drive away their trucks and later book the trucks as ‘towed’ and slam outrageous bills ranging from N150,000 to N250,000.”
He also described the act as delibrate show of lawlessness and abuse of power.
“All these deliberate act of impunity, lawlessness and barbaric manner of operation by members of the Committee on the Removal of Abandoned Trucks is not only destroying the good intention of their establishment by the government, but also portraying the government in a bad light.
“Therefore, we are, once again, using this medium to let the governor and the public know what we, the truckers, have been passing through in the hands of the committee. The money we ought to have used to maintain these trucks are forcefully and unlawfully collected from us by members of the committee without issuance receipt,” he lamented.
AMARTO argued that creation of the committee in the presence of a more organised traffic agency like Lagos State Traffic Management Authority “is a duplication of function and waste resources.”
