FG raises alarm over increasing extortion on port access roads

The Federal government has raised the alarm over increasing extortion along access roads of the Lagos and Tin Can Island Port complexes.

According to NAN, Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), said this in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday.

Despite NPA’s clearance operation of the complex barely two weeks ago, Bello-Koko had lamented that the extortions had persisted.

According to him, the government was working on ending the illegality.

He blamed shanties and illegal erections within the complex for harbouring criminal elements carrying out the crimes.

“On the eve of the port corridor clearance operations carried out in collaboration with Lagos State Government earlier this month, I lamented that these acts of extortion and allied illegalities are injurious to trade facilitation, which is our core function.

“We cannot allow these nefarious characters to make nonsense of the gateways to the national economy which the ports constitute,” he said.