Against the backdrop of complaints by some importers that their vehicles were usually vandalized at the port, especially at Ports and Cargo Handling terminal, a licensed customs agent at the Tin Can Island Port, Barrister Michael Ovien has said that the terminal is not guilty of such a crime.
This is even as the spokesperson of the Sifax Group (owners of the terminal operator); Mr. Muyiwa Akande told Shipping Position Daily last week that the company apart from its tight security at its terminals also has a strong insurance policy in place to take care of its customers who have complaints.
Speaking with our correspondent, the clearing agent noted that rather than discuss vehicle vandalism, there have been an increase in the number of accidented vehicles coming in through the Tin Can Island Port alone.
He said that majority of the vehicles displayed at Berger Auto market as well as other auto shops around the country are vehicles that previously had accidents and that were repaired and displayed.
“When you look at shipment of vehicles through the Tin Can Port now, you would realize that major chunk of vehicles coming in now are accidented vehicles. The manifest of an accidented vehicle shows that some of the components have been removed, so we cannot say such a vehicle was vandalized”
“A vehicle that came and the radiator, the chassis are bad, the air bags are out, what else do you want to vandalize in it? It means that the importer have the mind of repairing the vehicle before putting it on the stand to sell”
“As for Five Star terminals, the final destination of those vehicles is inside the terminal, but in Ports and Cargo, the final destination is Okota, and how can you get a vandalized or accidented vehicle down to Okota? The workload lies on the shipping company”, Ovien stated.
Continuing, he said that Nigeria is now a dumping ground for any salvage company around the world, especially those in the United States. He said that importing accidented vehicles allows the importer to buy the vehicle at a lesser price as a result of the high exchange rate in Nigeria, so as to make profit.
“The duties are paid based on the damage done on the vehicle, they give you some rebate on the actual dollar expatriate price of the vehicle which still gives the importer some money to save, but at the end of the day, are these vehicles repairable”
“The vehicles in Berger are water-flood vehicles imported from other countries, in the USA, whenever there is a flood, Nigerians go straight to these areas to pick the vehicles that are supposed to be crushed, people want to remain in the business otherwise they would close shop” he said.
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