Residents and business owners in Apapa area of Lagos have issued a 21-day ultimatum to government to clear the area of all articulated vehicles or incur the wrath of the residents.

The aggrieved residents at a news briefing yesterday in Apapa vowed to shut down indefinitely all business activities within Apapa and environs if government failed to comply with their demand.

Speaking on behalf of the residents and business owners, retired Brigadier General Shola Ayo-Vaughan said they were prepared to block all entry both in and out of Apapa since the traffic gridlock had already wrecked their businesses and robbed them of good lives.
Ayo-Vaughan said government and its agencies in connivance with the shipping companies deliberately refused to implement policies meant to keep the trucks and containers off the road so as to force landlords, residents and business owners out of Apapa.

According to him the long plan of government and its allies was to turn Apapa into a Port Area.

He alleged that the situation had been made worse because shipping companies feed fat on demurrage charged unearned containers.

Another resident Dr. Akinkunge regretted that they now live in perpetual fear due to recurring armed robbery attacks by hoodlums who now use Apapa as hiding place.

She also lamented that some families during emergencies had lost loved ones in need of medical care to total blockade of access roads by the articulated vehicles.

•Sourced from a THISDAY report

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