Lagos Ports Crisis Looms as COMTUA Petitions NPA Over Controversial Ticket Policy

By Temitope Adebiyi, Correspondent

Tension is mounting at Lagos ports after the Council of Maritime Transport Unions and Associations (COMTUA) rejected a new daily transit fee.

COMTUA labeled the harmonised ticket—proposed by the Lagos State Trucks and Cargo Committee (LASTCOC) for the Apapa and Tin Can Island corridors—as illegal.

The union warned that enforcing it could spark trucker resistance and paralyse cargo evacuation along the already-congested routes.

Effective from tomorrow, Wednesday, September 30, 2026, truck operators in the Apapa and Tin Can Island corridors are required to use the Lagos State Government Harmonised Ticket
LASTCOC introduced the 24-hour single ticket to curb illegal fee collection, organize the trucking environment, and reduce the financial burden on truck owners and drivers.

In a notice to maritime truck owners, operators, and drivers, LASTCOC Chairman Alhaji Lukman Shittu urged operators to buy the Harmonised Ticket from authorised points of sale within the Apapa and Tin Can Island corridors.

Shittu also advised them to keep their tickets valid for the full 24-hour period and refuse any demands for unauthorized or multiple payments from commuter unions, local governments, or other groups.

LASTCOC called on truckers to immediately report extortion, redundant levies, or unauthorized fees to the committee for intervention.

The harmonised ticketing initiative was launched to streamline revenue collection and protect trucking operations from predatory charges along the state’s maritime corridors.

According to LASTCOC, the harmonised ticketing system aims to streamline maritime corridor operations by standardizing revenue collection and boosting transparency for truck operators,

The committee is now calling on all stakeholders to cooperate with the rollout.

However, the planned daily ticket for the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports has sparked backlash from the Council of Maritime Transport Unions and Associations (COMTUA).

In a statement, COMTUA President Yinka Aroyewun rejected the proposed levy by the Lagos State Trucks and Cargo Committee (LASTCOC), branding it illegal, extortionate, and provocative.

This reaction follows LASTCOC’s announcement that it will begin collecting the ticket fees on September 30, 2023.

COMTUA has formally petitioned the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), insisting that no group has the authority to impose or collect fees from truckers operating along port corridors

The union warned that the proposed collection could spark unrest on port roads and derail ETO-led cargo evacuation efforts.

“Our position is clear, No form of ticket collection or enforcement by LASTCOC or any group will be tolerated on the port corridors. Transport tickets are constitutionally meant to be sold inside motor garages, not on federal highways and certainly not on a transit port corridor.Truckers in the ports are not members of LASTCOC and cannot be forced to patronise an illegal body.

“We have petitioned the Managing Director of the NPA and put the Authority on notice that any connivance, indulgence or failure to stop this illegality will be met with total resistance from truckers.

“We have maintained peace and supported all efforts to ensure free flow of traffic. This illegal tolling is capable of reversing all gains made through the ETO call-up system.

“We hold that the NPA will be responsible for any breakdown of law and order, withdrawal of services or shutdown of port operations that may arise from this illegal collection.

“We therefore demand that the NPA should publicly disassociate itself from LASTCOC, direct all security agencies to prevent them from operating on the port roads, and reaffirm that no group is authorized to collect tickets on the port corridor.”

According to COMTUA, the new fee risks escalating tensions along volatile port roads and triggering widespread unrest.

”We have watched with keen interest in recent weeks how LASTCOC has been parading itself under the guise of “cleaning extortion points” on the port corridors. It is now clear to us that the exercise was a fraudulent smokescreen to achieve a premeditated illegal agenda – to institutionalize the same extortion they claimed to be cleaning.

“We wish to state categorically that LASTCOC has no legal backing, no constitutional role and no operational mandate to collect any levy, toll or ticket on federal port access roads which are under the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA),” Aroyewun said.