The National President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA); Prince Olayiwola Shittu has accused terminal operators under the aegis of Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) of deliberately sabotaging freight forwarders and their importers through refusal to stem containers to bonded warehouses.
The National President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA); Prince Olayiwola Shittu has accused terminal operators under the aegis of Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) of deliberately sabotaging freight forwarders and their importers through refusal to stem containers to bonded warehouses.
Shittu who spoke in Lagos on Tuesday observed that this move is meant to punish the freight forwarders for showing support for the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in the court case involving the council, shipping companies and STOAN over arbitrary charges being collected at the ports.
The ANLCA boss said that cargoes that can easily be cleared at bonded warehouses are now being held up at the terminals for several weeks in order for them to attract demurrage.
Shittu said that this is already creating congestion at the ports.
Shittu said "We discover that all our inland terminals are being starved of consignment now since this issue of Shipping Companies, Shippers Council and Terminal Operators have been on"
"Most of those terminals are becoming empty, they no longer stem containers to them as a punishment for our being supportive and it is creating congestion in the port, whereby you cannot even access your container either for examination or positioning which equally creates opportunity for them to make more money and collect charges for services not rendered", he said.
He said that the association is already putting up a position paper to the government, even as he threatened that the association might be forced to embark on a strike any moment from now.
"It is provocative, we pray they will not push us to a level that we might forget the warnings of no strike and decide to test our strength", he threatened.
Members of ANLCA have equally alleged that terminal operators usually start raising charges on every container even before the ship carrying such container berth at the terminals.
Chairman of Apapa Chapter of ANLCA; Mr. Olumide Fakanlu accused the STOAN members of closing operations daily at Apapa port immediately it is 4pm, rather than offering a 24-hour service that they are being paid for.
"By 4pm, terminal operators and shipping companies will shut down their system and tell you to come back for your cargo the next day, because they have closed for the day, in some areas, the customs servers are equally shut down", he lamented.
Apart from these, Chairman of Lillypond Chapter of ANLCA; Mr. Anslem Njemanze also fingered the Lillypond Container Terminal of snatching the jobs of freight forwarders by engaging the services of DANCO, a foreign freight forwarding outfit owned by the terminal operators.
Njemanze said that jobs belonging to the company are quickly attended to at the expense of other freight forwarders operating at the chapter.
"They have chased us out of the NPA building and given the place to their own freight forwarding company, when we go there to clear cargo after 4pm, they will tell you that they have closed for the day, but if it is the job of Danco they will extend the time" he said.
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