*Tanko Ibrahim

The 100% Compliance Team of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders NAGAFF has alleged that no fewer than 1, 800 laden containers are currently trapped at the various seaports in Lagos due to alleged sharp practices by the Maritime Police, many of which have been flagged down for investigation. The group is worried that if not checked, this trend might fuel port and cargo congestion, especially as the end of year activities approach.

Speaking with journalists after a protest at Apapa Port Friday, the National Coordinator, NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team, Alhaji Tanko Ibrahim alleged the Police Division was conniving with some shipping companies to get information on consignments and arbitrarily delay cargo clearance.

Tanko expressed displeasure over the activities of Maritime Police, which he alleged are primarily geared towards extortion, saying that freight agents and shippers part with a minimum of N1.5million for each container flagged down by the police.

“At the moment, there are over 1,800 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 Inspector General of Police IG, and other stakeholders at the ports about this problem. We notified port stakeholders two weeks ago that this protest will happen 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 stations”, he also alleged.

According to him, the Maritime Police connives with some 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.

Ibrahim said: “They connive with some shipping companies to extort monies from us. We are also subjected to paying the demurrage that accrues from the delay while resolving any issue with the Police. We are not 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 also 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 recognise that ports are sensitive areas, that’s why we have been more open to dialogue and deliberations instead of protests,” he remarked.

It was gathered that the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA and AP Moller Terminal Apapa have called for an emergency meeting on Monday, next week with the aggrieved freight agents over the issue.