The Nigerian Police, Area B Command Apapa has begged all the businesses as well as resident who recently relocated from Apapa to other parts of Lagos State to return back to Apapa as the traffic gridlock that crippled life and business in the area had been tackled.
The Area Commander of the Command, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Julius Okoro who made this appeal Thursday during his working visit to the Headquarters of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) said that residents of Apapa now move freely as traffic flow in the area was fairer than those of other parts of Lagos.
While describing the Apapa gridlock as a challenge on his arrival, Okoro disclosed that he was determined not to leave Apapa without solving the traffic gridlock which had came to be a norm in that part of the city adding that while others before him endure the ugly trend, it was not going to be so in his time.
According to him,” I have not been able to come (to NAGAFF Headquarters) because of the trailers and tankers gridlock which was inconveniencing the residents of Apapa. I took it upon myself that if they say for the past 3 year, it has been like that, it will not be like that in my time. That was my first challenge. I tackled it headlong the whole of December and part of January and I promised my seniors in the authority that I will clear it.
“I thank God today the residents of Apapa move freely, if you go around the town, the whole of Lagos, you will discover that the flow of traffic in Apapa is even fair than any other place. So, I say to those people that ran away because of traffic congestion in Apapa should come back and live freely and transact their businesses freely. That was a challenge and we have done it and we have focused our attention to other areas”.
On stopping duly released containers from the port by men of his command, the Police boss stated,” I want to tell you that my men in my command, they know my plan. If you stop container on the way for no reason, just be sure that you are entering my cell. I wouldn’t stop you from stopping suspected containers carrying exhibit, terrible goods, goods that are contraband, goods with criminal motive, if you are doing your job, do it right, if you are working with me and you are doing your work well, I don’t see you having issues with me. If you are doing your job well, you will not have any problem with me unless you do something bad”.
He informed that since assuming duty in the command, he had done his best to sanitize the command adding that a number of officers in the command had been detained while some others had been sent out of the command just to drive home a message.
While describing the anti-corruption crusade of the association as helping the Police to carry out its constitutional mandate, he added that he would run an open door policy asking members of NAGAFF to take advantage of it to cement their relationship with him.
“I want to say my door is open to you anytime, come and relate with me, anytime you want me around, I will come around, if you want to see me, come, we will relate freely, there is no problem at all. I like what you are doing, helping the nation an d it is only in doing this that the nation will move forward. What you are doing is helping the nation move forward and because you are helping the nation to move forward, I am giving you my utmost cooperation to ensure that the nation move forward”, he said.
Earlier in his welcome address, the President of NAGAFF, Dr. Eugene Nweke advised the Area Commander to adopt Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to resolve most of the cases that would come to his office which relates to their business transactions at the port especially as it relate stopping containers on the road.
Represented by the Legal Adviser of the association, Barr. Fred Akokhia, Nweke pointed out that this was necessary as any undue delay of container that was destined to other parts of the country would not only amount to holding down the importer’s investment but also amount to holding down the importer’s capital as according to him, time is money.
“But there are areas we will want to employ the Alternative Dispute Resolution in solving, there are areas where we have had reasons to meet with the Area Commander especially in the area of Police officers in the area stopping containers that are exited from the ports along the road for no other reason than to, because in business, time is money and if you stop a container that is supposed to be going to Onitsha and for the reason not known to the owner of the container or to the person accompanying that container and you delay them, you are actually holding down that man’s investment and his capital”, he explained.
He however pledged the support of the association especially through its anti-corruption unit to volunteer information that would enable the Police boss succeed in his duty as long as he remained in the area adding that they would always enjoy a symbiotic relationship with one another.
Tracing the role the Police played in having NAGAFF in existence today, the founder of NAGAFF and the National Chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam admonished the Police boss to be firm and resolute in his quest to bring about a crime free Apapa adding that corruption war is the hardest war one can fight as corruption had a way of fighting back.
He assured him of the cooperation of the association by staying away from criminality and actions that would ruffle the relationship the association was now enjoying with the command.
Highlight of the visit was the induction of the Area Commander into the rank of the association and his decoration with the NAGAFF broach by the founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam.
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