Clearing agents under the aegis of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, (NAGAFF) at the weekend lamented that the Maritime Police Unit of the Nigerian Police Force has flagged down over 1,800 import units of Containers at the Lagos ports for investigation.
The group said that the Police proceeded in this despite those containers having already been cleared by all relevant agencies of government present at the ports.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune after a protest at Apapa port, the National Coordinator, NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team, Tanko Ibrahim indicted the police division of conniving with shipping companies to get information on consignments and arbitrarily intercept cargo clearance.
Tanko, however, expressed displeasure as he posited that the activities of the Maritime Police are primarily geared towards extortion as freight agents and shippers part with a minimum of N1.5 million for each container flagged down by the police.
According to Tanko, “At the moment, there are over 1,800 containers trapped within the Lagos ports as a result of sharp practices of Maritime Police. For each container, the Police collect N1.5 million before releasing it and most times there is no reason for intercepting the containers in the first place.
“We wrote letters to Police IG, and other stakeholders at the ports about this problem. We notified port stakeholders that this protest would happen two weeks ago and we followed up with a reminder, but nobody engaged us in any meeting or dialogue. There are numerous issues but the major one is the Maritime Police. After freight forwarders clear containers from the ports, we are harassed on the roads by this police division. They seize the containers and take them to their barracks.”
According to him, the Maritime Police’s connivance is with shipping companies as they also block the containers even before they are released by the Nigeria Customs Service, leading to additional demurrage and storage charges on the consignments.
“Their connivance is with shipping companies to extort money from us, especially at the Lagos Ports. We are also subjected to paying the demurrage that accrues from the delay while resolving any issue with the police. We aren’t against the Police carrying out any investigation on consignments if they insist it is their job; but we are no longer going to be held liable for the demurrage and additional charges during their investigations”, he lamented.
Tanko warned that the freight forwarding group is on the verge of dragging the matter to court, stressing that this may be the most effective way to address the issue if pleas, dialogue and protests fail.
“We recognize that ports are sensitive areas, that’s why we have been more open to dialogue and deliberations instead of protests,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA and AP Moller Terminal Apapa have called for an emergency meeting with the aggrieved freight agents over the issue on Monday.
Also speaking, a freight forwarder, Sylvanus Agwu said the action of the police might cripple port operations since detained cargoes are already competing for yard space with import units of Containers.
“We have over 1,800 containers detained at different places by the police. While some are inside the ports, others are outside the ports.
“Even though these containers are accumulating demurages that the importer has to pay, those inside the ports are eating up yard spaces which are needed to handle newer units of cargoes by the port operators.
“If this is not checked and the numbers of detained containers increase, there will be problems for the port operators because the port is not a warehouse or storage facility.
“The actions of the Maritime Police negate trade facilitation and will rub off negatively on efficiency at our ports.”
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