In the usual characteristics of Nigerian youths, Wale’s friend left Katsina in search of greener pastures overseas after living in Katsina for about two decades.

While leaving, he handed Wale the responsibility of conveying his property to one of his family members in the southern part of the country.

Precisely, Wale was assigned by his friend, an indigene of Osun State to help convey his left over property from Katsina State capital to his elder sister in Osogbo, Osun State. Wale settled for the Nigeria Postal Service, NIPOST, to do the job. He got a small vehicle and conveyed the items which include a refrigerator, mattresses, cooking pots, gas cooker and cylinder among others to the NIPOST Head Office in Katsina.

NIPOST slammed him with a bill of N25, 000 with a firm promise to deliver the listed items from Katsina to Osogbo in Osun State within the time frame of two weeks at most. The transaction was initiated on October 8, 2021. But three months after, to the chagrin and bewilderment of the customer, NIPOST not only failed to deliver the items but are also at a loss as to where the items are. They do not know the location of the items many months after moving them from Katsina NIPOST Office. While the owner of the goods has not suspected Wale of any foul play and is sure he did his best, the recipient of the items, the elder sister to the owner of the items has been on his neck.

While speaking with Arewa Voice, Wale said: “The owner of the goods is someone that knows me to a large extent; if not he would have accused me of foul play. However, the elder sister who was billed to receive the items in Osogbo is agitated. I have been trying to persuade and calm her down from time to time. I have been to their office countless times to ask them where exactly my goods are and how soon they will resolve the issue but they can’t tell. The last time I went there, I threatened to initiate a legal action against them but they appealed to me to exercise more patience. I don’t know what to do anymore.

“I even went online to search for their customer care contact or head office phone line to complain to but all the numbers I saw there are not functional. They are either switched off, not assigned, unavailable or unreachable. I also sent mails to the different email address I found on the internet but I did not receive any response till now.”

Arewa Voice investigations at the Katsina NIPOST Office reveal that the ordeal is a general challenge faced by customers who use NIPOST to deliver items from the North to the southern part of the country. According to Husaini Bello, the Counter Manager, NIPOST Katsina, “This cargo issue is not peculiar to Wale’s items. It is a general problem. Already we have done our own here. NIPOST has its own routing channels. Items from Katsina don’t go direct to Osogbo or any other place. We either send such item to Funtua or Zaria because there is a stationed cargo there attached to Katsina zone which is under Kaduna zone. When we pack our load there, they normally send a truck from our central zone, Abuja, through Dutse. So, it is the responsibility of Abuja the main central latitude to take loads from Abuja to other parts of the country not ours.”

On way out of the quagmire, Husaini said it will take the Kaduna Zonal Manager to ascertain the whereabouts of the items through NIPOST tracking platform. But about two months since he was reached, the whereabouts of the items remain unknown, Arewa Voice checks revealed. The counter manager maintained that it was only the Kaduna Zonal Manager who was in the best position to make the inquiries to ascertain where exactly the items may be through a platform where general complaints, problems, inquiries are normally reported. But while the back and forth search continues, the state of Wale’s property duly paid for to be transported to Osun, remains in limbo as anxiety over their state, mounts on a daily basis. (Vanguard)

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