By Uzor Odigbo
Following issues of sharp practises by security personnel within the port community and illegal cargo clearance by freight agents, the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) 100% Compliance Team and the Maritime Police Command have engaged themselves with accusations and counter-accusations on containers detention and interception at the Lagos Seaports.
While the 100% Compliance Team are alleging that the Maritime Police Command is responsible for the delay in the clearance of 1800 containers from Lagos ports, the Maritime Unit of Police have accused members of NAGAFF of illegal clearance of containers.
The NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team over the weekend, lamented that sharp practices of Maritime Police have seen over 1800 stuck at Lagos ports having been flagged down for investigation by the police division.
National Co-ordinator, NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team, Alhaji Tanko Ibrahim in chat with newsmen, indicted the police division for conniving with shipping companies to get information of consignments and arbitrary intercept cargo clearance.
Tanko, expressed displeasure that the activities of Maritime Police are primarily geared towards extortion as freight agents and shippers part with a minimum of N1.5million for each container flagged down by the police.
His words: “At the moment, there are over 1800 containers trapped within the Western ports as a result of sharp practices of Maritime Police. For each container, Police collects N1.5million before releasing it and most times there is no reason for intercepting the containers in the first place.”
“We wrote letters to the Police IG, and other stakeholders at the ports about this problem. We notified port stakeholders that this protest will happen two weeks ago and we followed-up with a reminder, but nobody engaged us for 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 it to their barracks.”
According to him, the Maritime Police connivance is with shipping companies as they also block the containers even before they are released by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), leading to additional demurrage and storage charges on the consignments.
“Their connivance is with shipping companies to extort monies from us, especially Lagos and Niger shipping company. 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.
According to Nigeria Daily Focus Online, Tanko warned that the freight forwarding group is at 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.
In a statement by ASP, Ehinmode Rowland, Ag. Police Public Relations Officer, Maritime Police Command, FHQ Annex, Lagos accused some members of NAGAFF to have been linked to some questionable containers cleared from the port without proper documentation.
Ehinmode stated that the police force intercepted a container conveying toxic raw skin popularly known as “Ponmo and another container laden with bullet proof doors without the required government papers and approval thus cleared by two members of NAGAFF recently.
The statement also quoted the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Maritime Police Command, Force Headquarters Annex, Lagos, AIG Susan U. Akem-Horsfall to discredited the claims by the National Coordinator, 100% Compliance Team, saying the story is not only deceptive, misleading and nebulous but an attempt to malign and water down the spirit and efforts of the Command at fighting the organized crime going on among some agencies at the Port.
The AIG further advised the public to disregard the report of Alhaji Tanko and his cohorts in its entirety and consider it as an attempt to mislead, misinform and efforts to gain the public sympathy and empathy.
The statement affirmed that “The Assistant Inspector General of Police, Maritime Police Command, Force Headquarters Annex, Lagos, AIG Susan U. Akem-Horsfall is abashed at an unfounded and mischievous report in some online media credited to one Alhaji Tanko Ibrahim, National Coordinator, NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team claiming that 1,800 containers are trapped at the Port by the Maritime Police. The same individual also delved into an area where he is not conversant with i.e Police Operations and Administration
“This story is not only deceptive, misleading and nebulous but an attempt to malign and water down the spirit and efforts of the Command at fighting the organized crime going on among some agencies at the Port.
‘It would be recalled that barely two weeks after the Command intercepted a container that was laden with goods not declared in a bill of lading and was cleared at the Port, it intercepted another container conveying Toxic Raw Skin popularly known as “Ponmo” that is not only poisonous but harmful and not suitable for human consumption, belonging to a member of NAGAFF, which has since been handed over to NAFDAC Enforcement Unit for re-examination.
“In a similar vein another container laden with bullet proof doors without the required government papers and approval belonging to another NAGAFF member was also recently intercepted by the Command.
“These efforts of the Command at fighting crimes been perpetrated by these criminal cartels surely does not go down well with these individuals who are fraudulently feeding fat on the common wealth of the Nation, hence, they are doing everything within their reach to cover their evil deeds and criminal tendencies.
“For the sake of information and clarification, The Ports Authority Police, in Lagos and Port Harcourt, as well as the National Inland Waterways Police, headquartered In Lokoja are under the DIRECT SUPERVISION of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Maritime Command
