Some of the protesters at one of the gates of the terminal, Lagos, Monday.

Economic activities at the Clarion Bonded Terminal located at the Alakija area of Mile 2 in Lagos were on Monday, paralysed for most of the day following a protest embarked upon by the Western Zone of the 100% Compliance Team of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders NAGAFF over the detention of 14 vehicles belonging to members of the association since July last year.

The Team has also accused the management of the terminal of complicity in the disappearance of 19 containers suspected to be laden with arms and ammunitions transferred from the Tin Can Island Ports Complex, Apapa and were designated for the terminal, but which disappeared while on transit, as no record shows they arrived, cleared and released from the terminal.

Secretary to the Western Zone of the Compliance Team, Barth Okeke, who addressed newsmen during the protest which started as early as 8am, disclosed that a total of 14 vehicles belonging to members of the association have been detained by the management of the Bonded Terminal since July last year after all the necessary clearing processes including payment of duty and relevant levies have been undertaken.

He regretted that all entreaties and communications by the Team by way of letters and visits to convince the management of the terminal to see reasons to release the 14 vehicles have fallen on deaf ears, a development that has left the team with no other alternative than to embark on a protest.

He disclosed that the group has petitioned the Tin Can Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, which supervises the bonded terminal since last year, but regretted that no action has been taken by the command as well as writing a similar protest letter to the Nigeria Police and as well as the Nigerian Shippers Council, all to no avail. Copies of a letter dated December 23, 2021 and addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Western Ports Command, Apapa, Lagos were made available to newsmen.

On the reason for the detention of the 14 vehicles, the Secretary disclosed that the management of the terminal is claiming that a certain Customs brokerage agency, Ajaji Continental Limited, which handled the clearing of the 14 vehicles had unpaid accrued debit notices to the tune of over N8million, arising from 19 containers transferred to the terminal since 2018, which must be paid.

He however alleged that upon investigation, it was discovered that the management of the terminal in connivance with another agency identified as 1ST Degree Multi Vision Ltd, which was supposed to be the true consignee of the containers decided to divert (fly) the containers without proper documentation.

He further disclosed that upon investigation, it was discovered that there was no Terminal Delivery Order TDO, which is supposed to accompany the 19 containers while no record showed that it was ever signed off from Tin Can Island Port, examined and cleared from the terminal, an indication that they disappeared while on transit.

Okeke said: “We’re here to notify the world, especially you Gentlemen of the Press of the atrocities and crimes being committed at Clarion Bonded Terminal. Can you believe that Clarion is holding on to 14 vehicles belonging to our members since July last year for no just cause?

“According to them, the reason is non -payment of some assessments that were assigned to a particular agency that those vehicles were consigned to; Ajaji Continental Limited, but from our own investigations, Ajaji has nothing to do with that debit notice but was rather assigned to a particular agency called 1ST Degree Multi Vision Ltd, which was supposed to bring the 19 containers from Tin Can Port, which it did not.

“Our investigations also show that those 19 containers, which are suspected to be carrying arms and ammunitions never arrived the terminal because from the attitude of the management and staffers of the terminal, nothing shows that those containers entered that terminal. Obviously, they did what is called ‘flying’ in clearing parlance, which means that the containers were diverted without proper documentations and payment of appropriate duty and levies.

“We have challenged them to show us the TDO, evidence that someone received them from the consignee or evidence that they were examined, cleared and released from the terminal, they have not been able to do that, which confirms our suspicion that the terminal has a hand in the ‘flying’ of those containers and our members are dying in silence.”

Chairman/CEO of Ajaji Continental Ltd., Godswill Ojogu, who also spoke to newsmen, denied any knowledge of the 19 containers, alleging that the management of the terminal and its cohorts harked and stole its Customs assigned password with which they undertook the diversion of the containers, which led to the blocking of his license by Customs, which was later reopened.

Efforts to speak with the management of the terminal proved abortive, as some of its officials, who spoke though a pigeon hole of the shut terminal, said they had no clearance from the management to speak to the press.