Reps Panel: Why Baro Port Is Still Idle Six Years After Commissioning

Reps

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the Rehabilitation and Operationalisation of Baro Port has identified lack of synergy among key government agencies and infrastructural deficit as the major setbacks that have hindered the operation of the multi-billion-naira inland port in Niger State.

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Saidu Musa Abdullahi, stated this when he led members of the committee on a courtesy visit to the Abuja corporate headquarters of Media Trust Group (MTG), publishers of Daily Trust, Aminiya, and owners of Trust TV, Trust Radio, and Digital Trust.

He said the visit was to seek the partnership of Media Trust Group in driving advocacy and public engagement towards making the long-abandoned multi-billion-naira inland port in Niger State fully functional. ‘Port abandoned six years after commissioning’

Daily Trust reports that six years after it was inaugurated by former President Muhammadu Buhari, the project is yet to commence operation, raising concerns from stakeholders.

One of our correspondents had visited the facility in 2024 with no activity happening at the Port. No cargo has been lifted while a single vessel has not berthed.

“Our expectations for development are dimming by the day because, since the port was commissioned, no activities have taken place there,” Ndagana Mohammed, a Baro-based school teacher, told our correspondent then.

Mohammed said, “During construction, our environment, including farmlands, was destroyed. We made sacrifices to ensure that development came to our immediate community, but it appears that our efforts are in vain. We really don’t know what is happening.

“We are, however, hopeful that under the current Tinubu-led government, the port will take off.”

Apart from the issue of dredging, poor road network has been the main constraint in the takeoff of the Baro port.