The Compliance Team of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders NAGAFF has alleged that over 1, 800 laden containers are currently trapped at the various seaports in Lagos due to sharp practices by Maritime Police.

The Compliance Team alleged that many of the containers stuck at the Ports have been flagged down for investigation by the Maritime Police division.

Speaking with journalists after a protest at Apapa Port at the weekend, the National Coordinator, NAGAFF 100 per cent Compliance Team, Alhaji Tanko Ibrahim, expressed worries that if not checked, the trend might fuel port and cargo congestion, especially as the end of year activities approach.

He alleged that the Police Division was conniving with some shipping companies to get information on consignments and arbitrarily delay cargo clearance.

However, 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 N1.5 million 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 N1.5 million 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 alleged. He alleged that the Maritime Police was conniving with some shipping companies to block containers even before they are released by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), leading to additional demurrage and storage charges on the consignments.

“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 said.

He also warned that the freight forwarding group is at the verge of dragging the matter to court, adding 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 added.

Meanwhile, 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. (Daily Sun)

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