Blue Economy
PEBEC DG Storms Apapa in Dawn Raid, Flushes Out Extortion Rings Bleeding Port Users
PEBEC DG Stoms Apapa in Dawn Raid, Flushes Out Extortion Rings Bleeding Port Users
Princess Zahra Audu leads multi-agency crackdown, dismantling illegal checkpoints across the Lagos port corridor as fleeing operatives abandon posts
By Emetena Ikuku | Waterways News Correspondent, Lagos
In one of the most direct and visible interventions by a federal government official in the embattled Apapa port corridor in recent memory, the Director-General of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Princess Zahra Mustapha Audu, on Thursday led a surprise, multi-agency enforcement operation that tore down a network of illegal checkpoints and extortion points long entrenched across key access routes into the Lagos ports complex.
The unannounced raid, which sent corrupt officials and security operatives scrambling from their posts — some abandoning chairs, umbrellas and other paraphernalia as they fled — targeted what port users, freight forwarders and trucking associations have long described as an organised shakedown system that adds hundreds of thousands of naira in unofficial levies to the cost of moving cargo in and out of Apapa.
A Menace That Has Defied Repeated Pledges
The problem of illegal checkpoints and extortion along the Apapa corridor is not new. For years, truck drivers, haulage operators and logistics companies have complained bitterly that their vehicles are routinely stopped at multiple informal collection points operated by a combination of uniformed security personnel, port agency staff and plain-clothed touts — each demanding cash payments that bear no relation to any lawful port charge or statutory levy.
Industry stakeholders have consistently identified this practice as one of the most significant hidden costs of port operations in Nigeria, inflating freight charges, reducing the competitiveness of Nigerian ports and contributing to cargo diversion to neighbouring countries such as Benin Republic and Togo. Previous directives from various agencies had largely failed to dislodge the racket, with checkpoints typically dissolved during official visits before returning within days.
Thursday’s operation appeared designed to go beyond announcements, with Princess Zahra personally leading the enforcement team through specific locations, confronting operatives on the ground and ordering the immediate suspension of identified extortion points.
The Operation: Location by Location
The enforcement team, drawn from several federal and state agencies, swept through a string of identified hotspots along the port access routes. Illegal checkpoints on top of and beneath the Liverpool Bridge — a notorious flashpoint where truck drivers have long reported being compelled to pay to proceed — were physically dismantled. At the Terminal International Container Terminal (TICT), operatives manning a second gate checkpoint were dislodged, and a separate extortion point near the terminal’s computer facility was shut down.
In a particularly significant action, a customs-occupied container that had been deployed as a makeshift toll point was identified and its operations suspended on the spot. Similar extortion rings operating within the PTML and Ports & Cargo terminal approaches were similarly cleared.
The sweep extended beyond the terminal gates into the wider Apapa axis. Checkpoints at NAGAFF Junction — a key aggregation point for trucks queuing for port access — were taken down, as were collection points at the Etisalat and Fidelity Bank roundabouts, two locations frequently cited by truckers as among the most brazen extortion spots on the corridor.
At all other approved checkpoints across the axis, the PEBEC DG issued an explicit directive: the collection of any unofficial payments from truck drivers or transport operators is henceforth prohibited, and offenders will face sanctions.
Multi-Agency Show of Force
The credibility of the operation was reinforced by the breadth of the agencies represented in the enforcement team. Princess Zahra was accompanied by officials from the Nigerian Police Force, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) — a composition that underscored that the exercise had both federal backing and inter-agency coordination.
The presence of the NPA and NCS in particular carries significance for port industry stakeholders, given that personnel from both agencies have previously been implicated in enabling or directly participating in checkpoint extortion. Their inclusion in the enforcement team suggests an intent to pursue accountability from within, not merely around, the port system.
Directive to Truck Drivers: Raise the Alarm
In remarks to truck drivers and haulage operators encountered during the operation, Princess Zahra sought to shift the balance of power on the ground. She encouraged drivers that whenever they are stopped and pressed for unofficial payments, they should raise an alarm rather than comply in silence. The appeal signals an attempt to build a reporting culture around port corridor extortion — though industry observers will note that the effectiveness of such a directive will depend heavily on whether enforceable channels for reporting and whistleblower protection are put in place.
The PEBEC DG also addressed what port operators describe as a compounding problem: the indiscriminate parking of articulated trucks on access roads leading into the port complex. This practice not only worsens the notorious Apapa gridlock but also creates the conditions under which informal checkpoint operators thrive. Princess Zahra directed truck owners and fleet managers to comply with parking regulations or face sanctions.
Nigeria Watch: Will the Corridor Finally Change?
For Nigeria’s maritime and logistics sector, Thursday’s Apapa raid carries both symbolic and practical weight. The Apapa port corridor has for years served as a proxy for the broader dysfunction of Nigeria’s port operating environment — a place where legitimate trade costs are inflated by layers of unofficial levies, where bureaucratic friction slows cargo clearance, and where the risk of extortion remains a permanent variable in freight pricing calculations.
The involvement of PEBEC — a presidential council mandated specifically to strip out obstacles to doing business — signals that the Bola Tinubu administration is prepared to apply executive pressure directly to the port environment, and not only through policy pronouncements.
But the durability of Thursday’s intervention will be tested quickly. Past crackdowns on Apapa checkpoint extortion have tended to produce temporary improvements before the informal networks reconstitute themselves. For freight forwarders, terminal operators, haulage companies and shipowners whose cargo moves through Lagos, the critical question is whether this operation marks the beginning of sustained enforcement or is, as many have come to fear, another one-day show of force. The presence of a multi-agency team, the direct involvement of the PEBEC DG, and the explicit naming and dismantling of specific locations offer some cause for guarded optimism. What follows in the coming weeks will determine whether Apapa has, at last, turned a corner.
Oyetola Woos Turkish Investors for Fisheries Sector, Vows to Protect Artisanal Fishers
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, has thrown Nigeria’s fisheries sector open to Turkish investment, insisting that any fresh capital coming into the industry must strengthen and not sideline the millions of Nigerians who depend on artisanal fishing for a living.
Oyetola made the pledge while receiving a delegation from Turkish fisheries and aquaculture firm CRD Impex, led by the company’s General Manager for Fisheries, Cem Tarhan, at his Abuja office. He told the investors the Federal Government was ready to create an investment-friendly climate for credible local and foreign players willing to bring capital, technology and modern value-chain solutions to the sector, on condition that such investment remains inclusive.
“We welcome investors who can bring capital, technology, expertise and modern value-chain solutions to the sector. However, investment must be inclusive and sustainable. It must complement and empower our artisanal fish producers, not undermine their livelihoods,” the Minister said
He listed inadequate infrastructure, poor access to modern fishing technology, weak cold-chain systems, limited processing and storage capacity, and gaps in market access as the major constraints holding back the sector, framing each as an opening for targeted investment rather than a dead end.
The Turkish team, which included CRD Impex founder Hanefi Cardak and Tetra Underwater Services founder Ersun Buyukgoze, toured key fisheries and aquaculture points around the country to size up the terrain first-hand. Stops included the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal in Lagos, the Ozumba Mbadiwe Fish Market in Lekki, and the Esuk Nsidung Beach Market, a major waterfront seafood hub in Calabar, Cross River State.
The Ministry described the visit as part of a broader push to attract serious investment into Nigeria’s blue economy while keeping the welfare of artisanal fishers central to that growth.
Nigeria Watch
The Turkish courtesy call lands squarely in the pattern this desk has tracked all year: big-ticket investment pledges for Nigeria’s waterways, paired with familiar assurances that the small operator won’t be crowded out. The test, as always, is what happens after the photo-op.
Nigeria’s artisanal fishing communities occupy the same economic space as the informal boat operators represented by WABOTAN and ATBOWATON, river- and creek-dependent Nigerians whose livelihoods rise or fall on decisions made far from the waterfront. The infrastructure gaps Oyetola cited which include, weak cold-chain systems, poor storage and limited market access, all mirror the exact complaints this desk has documented from inland waterway operators for years but modernisation announced from Abuja rarely reache the jetties.
Turkish capital chasing Nigerian fisheries and aquaculture is a genuinely new thread, distinct from the Strait of Hormuz shipping story or the CVFF disbursement saga this desk has followed closely. But the underlying question is the same one that has defined Oyetola’s tenure at the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy: will “inclusive investment” translate into contracts, cooperative partnerships and cold-chain infrastructure that artisanal operators can actually use or will it, like so many blue-economy pledges before it, stall at the courtesy-visit stage?
Waterways News will be watching for the first concrete CRD Impex commitment — site, timeline, or local partnership — as the marker of whether this one is different.
NPERA, NPA Open Technical Talks on Handover of Inland Dry Port Functions
By Ighoyota Onaibre | Waterways News
The Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have begun formal engagement on transferring inland dry port oversight to NPERA, marking the start of what both agencies describe as a critical phase in operationalising Nigeria’s new port regulatory framework.
At a management-level meeting between the two agencies, officials focused on the technical groundwork for the handover, chiefly how to draw clear lines of responsibility and avoid duplication among the government bodies with a stake in inland dry port administration.
NPERA’s Director-General/CEO, Dr Akutah Pius, framed the transition as flowing directly from the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, whom he credited with steering the process toward the sector’s broader development. Akutah was emphatic that NPERA could not carry out the transfer alone, and said the buy-in of every relevant stakeholder agency would be needed to see it through.
He indicated that the Ministry would stay central to coordinating the process even as specific mandates move to the agencies best placed to execute them. Akutah also pointed to the Minister’s earlier interventions during the NPERA Bill’s passage through the National Assembly, which he said had defused inter-agency friction and set the stage for the cooperation now underway.
Describing the purpose of the meeting, Akutah said it was meant to formally kick off the transfer of inland dry port responsibilities to NPERA in fulfilment of its statutory role as economic regulator of the ports sector. He singled out Section 51 of the NPERA Act as a provision that now needs to be put into practical effect to keep the transition orderly and ensure stakeholder roles are properly aligned.
To manage the process going forward, the NPERA boss proposed setting up a joint committee drawing in NPERA, NPA, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. He argued that inland dry ports matter well beyond the coastline. They extend maritime sector benefits into Nigeria’s hinterland and reinforce the country’s trade and logistics chain.
Responding on behalf of NPA, Managing Director Dr Abubakar Dantsoho welcomed the move and pledged his agency’s full operational and technical backing throughout the transition. He said the process had started on the right footing, and that NPA would furnish updated data on the current state of inland dry ports to inform further discussions, expressing confidence that continued engagement would help the agencies meet their shared objectives.
NPA’s Executive Director, Engr. Lekan Badmus, also commended NPERA for setting the collaboration in motion, calling the meeting a solid first step toward a smooth integration. He noted the two agencies have now moved into the technical phase of the exercise, with close attention being paid to eliminating overlapping functions.
Closing the meeting, Akutah said the proposed joint committee would reconvene with the Minister to seek further guidance and agree on next steps to keep the transition on track.
Nigeria Watch
This meeting is the first visible test of whether the NPERA Act’s promise of a rationalised port regulatory architecture can survive contact with Nigeria’s crowded agency landscape. Section 51’s transfer of inland dry port functions to NPERA looks straightforward on paper; in practice, it touches NPA’s traditional port administration turf, NIWA’s inland waterways mandate, and the Ministry’s coordinating role all at once, precisely the kind of overlapping jurisdiction that has bedevilled reform efforts elsewhere in the sector, most visibly in the long-running NIWA-LASWA tussle that only the Supreme Court could settle.
The proposed joint committee of NPERA, NPA, NIWA, and the Ministry, is a sensible mechanism, but Waterways News readers who have followed the CVFF disbursement saga know that Nigerian maritime governance has no shortage of well-designed committees whose outputs never quite reach implementation. What will matter is whether Akutah’s “technical phase” produces a binding timeline, not another round of goodwill statements.
For inland dry port operators and the hinterland trade corridors that depend on them, the stakes are practical: unclear jurisdiction between NPA and NPERA has historically meant slower cargo evacuation, duplicated levies, and uncertainty for freight forwarders planning routes away from the congested Lagos ports. If this transition is handled well, it strengthens the case for dry ports as genuine pressure valves for Apapa and Tin Can. If it stalls in inter-agency turf negotiation, it becomes one more entry in the gap between policy pronouncement and delivery that this desk continues to track.
Worth watching: whether Minister Oyetola’s office sets an explicit deadline when the committee reconvenes, and whether NIWA, whose inland waterways mandate intersects with dry port hinterland connectivity, gets more than a seat at the table.
Two More Tankers Struck in Strait of Hormuz as Attack Count Hits Five in a Week
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News
Two more tankers have been hit while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, leaving two seafarers with minor injuries and pushing the number of reported attacks or security incidents against commercial vessels in the waterway to at least five since 16 September.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said an inbound tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile on Monday. Two crew members sustained minor injuries, but the vessel stayed under its own power and continued to its next port, with no environmental impact reported.
Hours later, UKMTO issued a second alert after an outbound LPG tanker reported being struck by debris from unknown projectiles. All crew were reported safe and the vessel also continued its voyage. Authorities are investigating both incidents, and UKMTO has not attributed either attack to a specific actor.
The two strikes build on a Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) advisory covering three earlier attacks between 16 and 18 September, one of which saw a tanker’s hull breached by a projectile, sparking a fire. JMIC continues to rate the threat level in the strait as “severe,” citing a high likelihood of deliberate hostile action and pointing to a pattern of harassment by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — drone overflights, surveillance of merchant vessels and VHF hailing, alongside the direct attacks.
Traffic through the chokepoint remains sharply depressed. Only 17 commodity vessels were visibly transiting over the weekend, down from 37 the week before and against a pre-war daily average of roughly 125. That figure excludes vessels sailing with their AIS transponders switched off, and JMIC notes a persistent gap between visible and actual traffic.
Nigeria Watch
For Nigerian maritime stakeholders, the Hormuz crisis is no longer a distant Gulf story. It is a cost line. Every fresh escalation feeds directly into the war-risk insurance premiums and freight rates that Nigerian importers, refiners and shipping agents ultimately absorb, since global tanker and container capacity pulled off the Hormuz route tightens supply elsewhere and pushes rates up across long-haul trades, including those serving West African ports.
The renewed attacks also sharpen the stakes around Nigeria’s push for a stronger voice at the IMO Council table and its broader blue-economy diplomacy under Minister Adegboyega Oyetola. A sustained Gulf disruption is exactly the kind of systemic shock that tests whether Nigeria’s seat translates into influence over how global shipping risk, insurance and rerouting decisions are made, rather than Nigeria simply absorbing the downstream cost.
Locally, the episode is a reminder of the layered nature of “maritime security” as a policy word: the Deep Blue Project and Gulf of Guinea security architecture address piracy and armed robbery close to home, but Nigeria’s ports and shippers remain exposed to security failures thousands of kilometres away in the Gulf.
Waterways News will continue tracking how the Hormuz situation feeds into freight cost pressure at Nigerian ports and NIMASA’s public messaging on the issue.
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