To boost trade facilitation and slash the cost of doing business, PEBEC Director-General Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu stormed the Lagos ports complex on Thursday. The high-impact raid dismantled illegal checkpoints and notorious extortion hotspots that have crippled operations along the port corridor for years.
Scattered across strategic access routes into the Apapa port corridor, these checkpoints had long served as cash cows for corrupt security personnel and port officials, who routinely extorted hundreds of thousands of naira from drivers.
The sudden raid caught the operatives off guard, sending many fleeing and abandoning their posts. Seizing the moment, the PEBEC DG empowered truck drivers to resist future intimidation, instructing them to instantly blow the whistle if stopped for illegal payments.
Backing the enforcement drive was a powerful multi-agency coalition, including the Police, NPA, Customs, NDLEA, FRSC, and LASTMA.
The crackdown swept through strategic choke points, dismantling illegal booths above and below the Liverpool Bridge, at TICT’s second gate, and near the TICT computer facility. In a swift move, the team also suspended operations at a suspect Customs-occupied container on the spot. Similar extortion rings were completely cleared out at the PTML and Ports & Cargo terminals.
The enforcement sweep widened across the Apapa axis, flattening notorious illegal toll points at NAGAFF Junction opposite Leventis, Etisalat Roundabout, and Fidelity Roundabout, while strictly forbidding security personnel at legitimate posts from delaying truckers. Turning her attention to logistics discipline, the PEBEC boss fiercely warned against the indiscriminate parking that paralyzes port traffic.
The DG however ordered drivers and fleet owners to clear the access roads immediately or face aggressive enforcement penalties.
