The Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Customs, Honourable Leke Abejide, on Monday, accused some of the concessionaires operating at the Apapa Port, Lagos State of extorting members of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Agents.
Honourable Abejide who expressed concern during a media briefing held at the National Assembly complex, Abuja, argued that such action “is capable of hurting businesses and revenue generation at the Ports which serves as the second-largest revenue-generating sector into the country’s coffer.”
The lawmaker who called for a thorough investigation into the activities of the concessionaires maintained that the way and manner the shipping lines operating in Nigeria “are short-changing importers and agents to the detriment of the Nigerian economy.”
Honourable Abejide observed that the concessionaires which managed the entry and exit points of the Apapa Port indiscriminately impose an illegal charge of N21,400 per day on importers/exporters for non-return of containers on the truck, being used as warehouses for its operations.
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According to him, “it is about 4 years and 4 months that Apapa Port turned to nightmare as a result of the gridlock firstly caused by Maerskline/A. P Moller Terminals system hacking. I want to tell you that if there is a breakdown in the entry and exit off laden trucks for just a minute the kind of gridlock that will arise will be unprecedented not to talk of their system that went down for almost six weeks or more
“You can guess what the situation would be. It would be chaotic as it is now at Apapa. As a result of this more vessels arrived while the previously discharged containers could not be moved out due to APMT/Maersk system breakdown container to pile up and up.”
Honourable Abejide explained that all the shipping companies brought in containers through importers are given a certain number of days ranging from 14 to 30 days to clear their consignments and return the containers either to the same Terminal inside the port or their designated empty containers bay also within the perimeter of the port.
“However because they do not want to spend money, they asked importers/agents to bring these empty containers to unaccessible place, making the trucks line up with containers on them.
“The worst thing is, these shipping lines which refused to do the right thing by locating their empty containers bay outside the port area say 100 km away or more will be calculating N21,400 per day on those containers on top of trucks. In this way, they are using the trucks of the agents/importers as warehouses and at the same time charging the same importers/agents for not returning the empty containers. This is a broad daylight robbery
“Another shocking thing is that even after the empty containers have been received by them and EIR(Empty Interchange Report) collected, these shipping lines will still put in their books that they are being owed. A shipping line can accuse an importer/agent of mowing up to N240 million within 3 to 4 months on empty containers already in their possession that they are using,” he observed.
Worried by the development, he harped on the need for automation of the Terminal Delivery Order (TDO) which will be installed at the entry and exit points at Apapa Port with the view to address the gridlock head-on.
He also beckoned on Federal Government to prioritize the construction of roads leading to the port by awarding it to a competent construction company with a proven track record.
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