Apapa gridlock: NIMASA headquarters, SON office barricaded

THE perennial Apapa traffic gridlock has taken a new dimension as container carrying trailers on Wednesday barricaded the whole length of the Burma road in Apapa, where the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) have their corporate headquarters and seaport offices respectively.

When Nigerian Tribune visited the ports on Wednesday, it was observed that many NIMASA and SON workers now walk or take a motorbike to their offices located adjacent each other along Burma road in Apapa because truckers and trailers have turned the road into a parking lot.

One of the aggrieved NIMASA staff who asked not to have his name in print explained that since the trucks and trailers started parking along Burma road, it’s been hell driving to the office.

“Prior before now, they don’t use to park in front of our offices, but now that there is no more space around Apapa, our office entrance have become a parking lot for this trailer drivers.

“It has made accessing the office a nightmare. Some vehicles are already trapped inside our corporate headquarters because they cannot come out. The whole place is blocked by trailer drivers,” the aggrieved NIMASA staff told our Correspondent.

Speaking to one of the trailer drivers, Musa Dan Maliki, he stated that there was no other place to park their trucks since everywhere is blocked.

In his words, “since they started repairing the ports access roads at wharf road, the whole place has been jam-parked. There is no way to park because of limited spaces.

“The server has been down for some time now, and that has made cargo clearance unpredictable. This has further compounded the already strained traffic situation, thereby living us with no other alternative than to park even in front of government agencies buildings.”

It would be recalled that since a coalition of private investors volunteered to repair the Wharf road axis leading to the Apapa port, a section of the road has been closed down due to ongoing repair works.