The Western Zone of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Monday appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba to deploy more police personnel to the Western Ports to guarantee effective policing of the ports.
The General Manager Western ports of NPA, Engr. Adeyinka Adetunji Odunsi made this appeal while playing host to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Maritime Police Command, AIG Kalafite Helen Adeyemi in his office in Lagos.
He informed the AIG that the officers currently working at the zone were overstretched hence the need for more hands.
According to him,” we have some challenges. One of the challenges is the manpower, today, we have shortage of manpower, I mean the Police. The Police we have on ground Ma, are overstretched and we think we need additional hands”.
“After the oil boom in the 70s, things have changed and we have to change with it and the management of the Nigerian Ports and the federal government have realised that by establishing new ports; Badagry port and Lekki port so that the two old ports here, they cannot take the volume of work that is here. They are old and obsolete, so, we are trying to expand. So, in view of the current realities, we need additional hands to help us”.
Engr. Odunsi further solicited the support of the AIG in getting the Officers at the Area B Police Station Apapa to stop frustrating the efforts of the Police officers at the ports who he said were working hard to ease the traffic at the ports only for the men at the Area B to compound the situation at that end.
“So, the Area B people should be talked to, the indiscriminate parking, the indiscriminate checking of vehicles and so on and so forth, they cause traffic gridlock. They have been cautioned one way or the other and we will continue to do things about that”, he said.
He recalled that the NPA Western zone procured two patrol boats for the use of the police to monitor the waterways adding that any incentive that the authority would need to give the police to enhance their operations, the authority would not hesitate to give it so as to assist the police.
Responding, the AIG, Maritime Police Command, Kalafite Helen Adeyemi promised that the Police headquarters would soon deploy more police officers to zone having made a formal request to that effect adding that in no distant time, the request would be acted upon.
She disclosed that the command was already talking with the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police command over the activities of the Men of the Area B Police command hoping that the discussions would soon produce result.
The AIG thanked the Management of the NPA Western Ports for the support it has been giving her officers at the Western command pledging that the police would reciprocate the gesture by being alive to its responsibilities at the ports.
