The checkpoint sat unmarked and ramshackle beneath a weathered canopy.
Broken chairs, scattered notebooks, and empty beer bottles lay about. Yet truck drivers insist they were stopped there repeatedly and forced to pay unofficial tolls.
This was what the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council found during a two-day operation. PEBEC swept through Lagos' Apapa and Tin Can Island port corridors last May and uncovered multiple illegal checkpoints accused of years of extortion.
Apapa and Tin Can handle nearly half of Nigeria's seaborne imports. Congestion at these ports has long been a costly problem.
In 2021, the government launched Eto, an electronic scheduling system for trucks. The idea was straightforward: digital queuing would reduce roadside chaos and speed up port access.
It worked initially. Traffic became more orderly and movement improved.
But by 2024, the old problems had crept back. Drivers complained of delayed approvals, reassigned time slots, and weak coordination among agencies.
Illegal roadside extortion points multiplied. Access to the system itself was being bought and sold, undermining its credibility.
PEBEC decided to act. On May 14, federal and state agencies—including the Nigerian Ports Authority, Customs, and maritime police—joined truck union leaders through the most problematic sections of the corridor.
At Area B near NAGAFF junction in Lagos Port Complex, officials discovered an unmanned checkpoint. Marine police officers claimed they'd been deployed there by area commands.
Their superiors disagreed sharply. "You cannot just erect checkpoints because you feel like it," Princess Audu, PEBEC's director general, said firmly.
The structure came down immediately. Truck union members helped demolish it, visibly grateful.
"99 days for the thief, one day for the owner," one driver remarked, citing a Yoruba proverb about justice delayed.
At Etisalat roundabout, officers discovered what port users called a notorious collection point. A notebook found there contained tallies of vehicles and suspected payment records.
This post was also dismantled. Officials seized the chairs and ordered nearby vegetation trimmed to eliminate cover for future illegal operations.
Fidelity junction, located nearby, had another unauthorised checkpoint. It met the same fate as the others.
Nine checkpoints were identified during the first day of operations alone. Six were accused of running extortion schemes while three lacked proper authorisation.
PEBEC officials said they would escalate findings to the Inspector General of Police. The council is determined to prevent unauthorised checkpoints from re-emerging.
Port congestion costs Nigeria millions annually in lost productivity. Eliminating illegal roadside tolls could significantly improve cargo movement.
Truck union leaders praised the operation as long overdue. Many drivers have lost years of income to systematic extortion at these checkpoints.
The second day of sweeps continued through Tin Can Island port corridor. More illegal checkpoints were expected to be discovered and removed there as well.
