Eng. Chukwuemeka Ikeobi, Apapa chapter NAGAFF financial secretary.
Story by Dili Utomi.
The incessant complaints and verbal missiles directed at government agencies and some players in the maritime sector of the Nigerian economy seem unabated as freight forwarders under the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders’s (NAGAFF) 100% compliance team are umbrageous of certain actions by certian entities within the sector.
As early as 8.30 Friday morning, some members of the Association’s compliance team from the Apapa chapter had assembled by the APMT Terminal to protest and register their grieviances and the coterie of newshounds within the area at the time engaged them in a conversation as they subsequently obliged interviews.
Obinali Emeka, Vice Chairman, NAGAFF Apapa chapter.
Obinali Emeka is the vice chairman of the Apapa chapter of the association and he said that a series of letters have been addressed to the management of the APM Terminals to make amend of certain anomalies. He added that the issues of the inhuman nature of the examination bay as well as the problem of reaching the bay that is about 3 kilometers inside the Terminal and which they have asked that vehicles should be provided, but totally neglected form part of their grieviances.
He also spoke vehemently against the antics of the maritime police that is always blocking their cargo after clearance and says that this nefarious act should stop.
He complained about the fact that the single window platform of the Customs is not working and wonders why the economic regulator, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is not on top of their job.
The National Coordinator of the NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team, Ibrahim Tanko.
Engineer Chukwuemeka Ikeobi is the the financial secrectary of the chapter and he also rated the APM Terminal very poorly, he said that they have the capacity to handle over 500 containers per day , but are handling only about 100 each day. He harped on the provision of vehicles for use to the new examination bay and against the constant acts of the maritime police who purportedly collects over #1.5million per blocked container.
Sylvester Sunday, a member of the compliance team aslo decried the performance of the Terminal operator and says that from the entry point of the Terminal to the Terminal itself that everywhere is totally bad. He refered to the APM Terminal operators as “scammers” and urge that action be carried out. The gathering was eventually broken up by calls that assured that a meeting has been scheduled for Monday, the 11th of September which aims to iron out the areas of disagreement.
The pressmen followed the group to their office where the National Coordinator of the Compliance Team, Ibrahim Tanko then addressed that press. Mr. Tanko complained about all the letters that have been written to the various agencies without result, but also focused more on the nefarious activities of the maritime police.
He said that over 1,800 containers have been been blocked by the maritime police who will never find anything wrong with the cargoes, but collect at least One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira (#1,500,000.00) and then release the blocked container afterwards. He affirms that the maritime police is supposed to be working on the water, but wondered why they are after their cargoes and added that the maritime police should pay the demurrage incured on these containers.
He educated his colleagues that the port works on 24-hour basis and should therefore make concerted afforts to try and work towards releasing their cargoes everyday of the week in order not to attract demurrage.
He urges the maritime police to officially apply to be part of the cargo examination processes so that they can get whatever information that they want to get because their action of blocking and stopping of cleared cargoes is against the government’s trade facilitation policy.
He wants the Nigeran Shippers’ Council, the Nigerian Ports Authority, the APMT management and heads of the different freight forwarding Associations to be part of the meeting on Monday because they are ready to picket the Terminal until all anomalies are corrected. Mr. Tanko claims that one of the superintendents at the maritime police has built a mansion and a hotel that can put businessmen like him to shame and these are proceeds of these illegal activities and extortions.
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