Months after the popular NASCO building in Apapa Lagos was razed down by fire, thereby ruining properties worth millions of naira, occupants of the building who are mostly freight forwarders have cried out on the challenges of continuing their business in the port without their required documents, even as they have alleged extortion from the Nigerian police officers who are beginning to take advantage of the situation.
Months after the popular NASCO building in Apapa Lagos was razed down by fire, thereby ruining properties worth millions of naira, occupants of the building who are mostly freight forwarders have cried out on the challenges of continuing their business in the port without their required documents, even as they have alleged extortion from the Nigerian police officers who are beginning to take advantage of the situation.
According to some of them who spoke with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos yesterday, it is difficult to carry out business transactions without the police report to prove that all their vital documents where lost to the fire incidents, but to get the police report “the police are requesting for N20, 000 before they can issue you police report” one of them told our correspondent.
The freight forwarder (names withheld) lamented that even if they choose to do it elsewhere, it is difficult to get the report from another police division except the one that covers the jurisdiction of the incident.
“I intend to write a report on this and forward it to the court if the situation is not reversed, I believe that they have been collecting the money from many of the affected agents, this shows that they have no human feelings at all because this is an incident that happened and everybody can see it, it was all over the news, and I have lost properties and documents that I can not quantify to the fire, where do I begin to borrow money now to settle the police” he complained.
This account was also confirmed by the Managing Director of Gemtrade International Limited, Mr. Olu Olasore, a frontline freight forwarder that was affected by the ill fated accident.
Olasore confirmed to our correspondent that it has been difficult to carry out business transactions after the fire incident and that even his practicing license was lost to the fire. According to him, getting a court affidavit is not a problem, but obtaining the police report has been proving difficult, and according to him both documents are required to prove that the documents were really lost to the fire.
“The challenges has been very high, we need to put a lot of things together, we need to go to the court for affidavit, go to the police for police report, but so far we have been able to obtain the court affidavit from the federal high court, but for the police report we have been having challenges and this is because of the Nigerian factor, let me just put it like that”
While recounting the effect of the incident on his personal life and business, Olasore described it as “a devastating experience, I entered that building since 1992 and I can tell you that all my life is in that building, both official and private documents are stored in my office, but the bible have said that temptation is something that is inevitable but as a man we must be strong” he said.
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