Ticket Racketeering Skyrockets Haulage Costs by 200% at Lagos Ports

The surreptitious trade of e-Call-up tickets by intermediaries has catapulted haulage costs by a staggering 200% at Lagos ports—Apapa and Tin-Can Island, reports LEADERSHIP.

The electronic Call-up system, commonly known as Eto, designed to streamline truck access to ports, has been marred by malpractices.

Managed by the private sector firm, Trucks Transit Parks Limited (TTP), the Eto system was intended to eliminate human interference in port truck scheduling.

Previously, obtaining an Eto ticket for trucks leaving the Lilypond Terminal took less than three days.

However, delays in the current system have led to a backlog, prompting truck owners to procure tickets from third parties at exorbitant prices of N150,000, significantly inflating haulage costs from N250,000 just a few months ago to the current N700,000.

Journeys such as Apapa to Sango-otta, Ogun state, which used to cost N250,000, now command N700,000.

Similarly, the route from Apapa to Ikeja, previously priced at N200,000, has surged to N600,000.

Truckers moving from Apapa port to Costain and Tin Can Island port to Mile 2 have increased charges from N200,000 to N500,000, respectively.

Truck owner Yusuf Liadi highlighted the rise of ticket prices, originally sold at N50,000, escalating to N150,000.

He anticipates a further increase to N200,000 by month-end due to the approaching festive season. Liadi urged TTP to address the backlog issues to curb fraudulent activities.

Chairman of Lilypond Export Terminal, Oluremi Olabanji, implicated some TTP staff in the crisis, alleging collusion with outsiders and manipulating the system.

He warned that if ticket racketeering persists, haulage costs could skyrocket to N1 million.

Despite denials from TTP, the company plans to implement advanced technologies to deter fraud, including Radio-Frequency Identification and mandatory permanent plate numbers on trucks.

These initiatives aim to prevent ticket racketeering and enhance the efficiency of the Eto system.

Source: Leadership News