Apapa Customs, Port Police CP Agbaminoja Unite to End Port Corridor Gridlock
Apapa Customs Controller, Compt Emmanuel Oshoba (right) presenting a souvenir to the Commissioner of Police, Port Authority Command, CP Toyin Agbaminoja when she visited the command on a working visit on Tuesday
By DAPO OLAWUNI
The Customs Area Controller of Apapa Customs Command, Compt. Emmanuel Oshoba, hosted the newly posted Commissioner of Police, Port Authority Command, CP Toyin Agbaminoja, on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.
The high-level meeting focused on strengthening inter-agency collaboration to tackle pressing issues, particularly the notorious traffic gridlock along the port corridor and ensuring trade facilitation.
Compt. Oshoba did not mince words when appealing to the new Police Commissioner to prioritize clearing the access roads.
DAILY TREND reports that Compt Oshoba is coming on the heels of media reports that the traffic gridlock was resurfacing due to hitches in the Nigerian Ports Authority’s Eto Call-up system.
The customs boss stressed that port accessibility is directly linked to the command’s ability to generate revenue.
“I want you to look at this corridor where we have cargoes passing through. Please, help us keep it safe and clear. One of the key things we do here is trade facilitation and ease of doing business. So any stoppage to any of these concerns are going to be brought back to the Customs and that affects our revenue.”
“So we want to keep this corridor smooth and free of flow of traffic. I would like you to look into that process. So once again, thank you so much for coming around. I wish you the best,” he said.
Beyond the gridlock, Compt. Oshoba highlighted the crucial role of the police in maintaining law and order, which according to him is a prerequisite for revenue generation.
“The police, like you rightly said, has its work, what I call maintenance of law and order. Because if you don’t have law and order in our country, you can’t think of generating revenue. So it is key to have continuous maintenance of law and order. Industrial peace and harmony is very key. And so, in line with my CGC, one of the first cardinal programs is about collaboration. We have collaboration, we have consolidation.
“We are consolidating on past relationships. My predecessors here have been in good working relationships with your office and the office of the AIG Marine. So we will continue in that line. We will consolidate on their gains.” He said
He stressed the operational necessity of inter-agency synergy, especially in intelligence sharing, noting his own background in intelligence. He also appealed to the CP to address malicious informants who submit frivolous petitions that disrupt port operations.
“In modern border management, we cannot do without each other in terms of constant collaboration. Definitely, once in a while, there might be clashes here and there, but it is important for people, those among us who understand, that we have a good working synergy. Once they have that mindset, things become easy for us.
“We cannot also underestimate the importance of collaboration in terms of intelligence sharing. I assure you of the cooperation of this command and officers to give you the desired assistance you require to succeed in your office. And we also solicit for the same from you and your men to ensure that all our stakeholders are kept in check. Which is very key.”
Speaking earlier, CP Toyin Agbaminoja affirmed the deep, historical connection between the two agencies, humorously referring to the police as the mother of the custom.
“We always say that the police is the mother of the custom, because the custom was removed from the police.
We would have been together if not that the government decided that we need to have the custom to be in charge of the revenue of the country, why the police would be in charge of the security. So basically, we are mother, father and child, and there is no parent that will not take care of their children.”
She committed the Port Police Command to ensuring the security of the port, which she described as the country’s second revenue generating platform and pledged round-the-clock support to the Customs Command.
“So, we are here to protect everybody in the port, because we all know that the port is the second revenue generating platform of the country. So the security of the port is a very important and vital aspect of our duty, and also the security of we that work in the port.”
She added, “I am here today to tell you that we are here at your doorstep, anytime you need us, anytime, be it in the early hours of the morning, in the midnight, in the afternoon, you can just call and we will be at your beck and call.”
Crucially, the Commissioner also pledged to eliminate internal disputes that could hamper their joint mission.
“And I also pledge that we will try as much as possible to limit the rivalry, interagency rivalry, during my stay at the CP of Western Ports, we shall work with you, we are not doing the same work, but we are working to achieve the same aim. So I pledge that we are here to make sure that we all make the Apapa a great place,” she concluded.
