How Agbero’s multiple collection points compound transporters, traders’ plight on Lagos-Badagry Expressway

Transporters conveying goods and items along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway have complained about the setting up of multiple due collection points by National Union of Road Transporter Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).

Also lamenting the mounting on multiple collection points are traders whose goods are moved through the corridor.

They said that almost every bus stop, there are persons claiming to be members of the transport unions collecting money from vehicles bearing goods and objects.

A number of stakeholders, transporters and traders, who spoke to The Guardian argued that if the money collected by persons claiming to be transport union officials is reviewed down by reducing the collection points transport fare for moving goods in and out of Lagos could drop by 25 to 50 per cent.

A transporter, Segun Babatunde, said that in almost every bus stop, these boys who claimed to be working for unions, demand for money with some insisting on collecting N500.

“Along the Lagos-Badagry inward Badagry, from Orile to Coker, Suru-Alaba, Mile 2 Oke, Mile-Durbar junction, First gate, Agboju, Oluti, Alakija Abule-ado, Tradefair, Barracks, Volks, Iyana-iba, Alabarago to Okoko, these boys are armed with all kinds of weapons to enforce payment including stone.

“If they flag you down to pay and the driver refuses to slow down to pay or throw their money on the floor, these boys will hit the vehicle’s side mirror or front glass with wood, metal or stone to damage the glass. And you are expected to pay on every trip not that you say once in each of the collection.”

Also commenting, another driver, John Okechukwu, said traders who are the owners of the goods they convey take part of the burden, because items that should have moved for N10,000, with the boys in mind, drivers would usually ask the owners of the goods to pay N15,000.

According to Okechukwu, around Mile 2 Bus Stop, there are six collection points on both sides of the road.

“Once the vehicles have any bulky item on board, these boys will not let such vehicles pass without payment. Sometimes, for trucks, whether they are conveying items or not, they have to pay.

“If you are moving some items from any of the warehouse in Kirikiri Industrial Estate to Festac, for instance, a driver will make payment in not less than 10 places. Within Old Ojo Road, there are three to four collection points. On the expressway, there are six collection points in Mile 2; there is another each at the entrances of Mile 2 Estate and Festac Town.”

Babatunde and Okechukwu pleaded with the state government to look at the activities of the transport unions as many of they often target vehicles, whether small or big conveying goods and items. They said it is affecting what they take home as profit.

Commenting also, a trader, Bimpe Ogunjobi, said the multiple collection point is not limited to the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

She added that it is the same scenario along the Iyana-Iba-Iyana-Ipaja corridor, with transport unions forcefully demanding payment of dues from vehicles, small or big, transporting items.

And the state government is aware of the multiple collections, reason in January 2022, the immediate past Commissioner for Finance, Rabiu Olowo, announced on behalf of the government the introduction of N800 daily Consolidated Informal Transport Sector Levy (CITSL).

The state government did not enforce it for a day. Rather than enforce the policy, the state government has been treating these transport unions with kid-glove.

At the press briefing to announce the once daily collection, the commissioner stated that CITSL became imperative to prevent transport unions from collecting levies from commercial buses, tricycles and motorcycles at the different bus stops. He said that operators would be expected to pay once a day usually from their take-off points.

While providing insight on the new levy then, Olowo explained that the N800 levy would cover charges for not just the 20 local councils and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs), but also for clearing waste, cleaning of motor parks and bus stops, as part of it would be transmitted to the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).

He added that the benefits of the levy include harmonising the collection process by putting a structure in place; reducing multiple taxes, dues and levies to all state agents and local councils; providing reliable data, eradicating harassment of bus drivers and bringing collaborative engagements within stakeholders, among others.

The commissioner said that the CITSL approach was an alignment with stakeholders and total restructuring of the transport system, a development that would further boost revenue generation in the state.

Olowo who said the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration has prioritised citizens’ interest in the entire scheme, further stated that personal income taxes of the drivers would also be deducted from the N800 levy, and the affected operators would be issued tax cards.

“The N800 is a single structured collection of the monies payable to all government agencies and parties, who are directly or indirectly associated with the transport sector. What the government has done is to reduce the multiplicity of levies and taxes, dues and monies due to the government from the transport unions. Bus drivers will get tax cards, and arbitrary payments will be eradicated once they pay from the point of their loading each day,” he said.