The Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporations (SSACTAC) Maritime Branch has appealed to all maritime government agencies at the seaports to abide by federal government and other international maritime laws that govern the ports.
The appeal came on the heels of the recent assault on some employees of the Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited (ABTL) by some customs officers.
The Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporations (SSACTAC) Maritime Branch has appealed to all maritime government agencies at the seaports to abide by federal government and other international maritime laws that govern the ports.
The appeal came on the heels of the recent assault on some employees of the Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited (ABTL) by some customs officers.
Speaking exclusively with Shipping Position Daily, in Lagos last week, the SSACTAC maritime branch president, Comrade Umar Jimoh called on all agencies of government at the ports to respect the federal government laws, saying that misunderstanding among the agencies can spark havoc, which can equally ground port operations.
According to him, there is need for the agencies to respect one another irrespective of who is supposed to be present at the port or not.
‘’Anybody can disguise as an official of any government agencies to create havoc, so the security agencies should be allowed to do their job and there is also the need to respect one another in the line of duty’’, he counseled.
If one agency at the port accuses or harasses another, I think it is better for the official to report to the authority in charge, rather than take laws into his hands because such things can lead to crises at the port’’, he stated .
He said that the Nigeria Police has a significant role to play in the seaports, noting that all complaints must be forwarded to the office of the commissioner of police or the divisional police officers (DPO) for clarity and for peace to reign.
Even though the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) says it’s a customs port, the SSACTAC boss reiterated that other agencies of government like NPA and NIMASA have a significant role to play within the port environment.
He said that customs roles at the port is to ensure that goods shipped into the country pay the necessary duty to the government, noting that they are more of trade facilitators at the ports.
The union leader further reiterated that collaboration among the agencies will encourage fast clearance of goods out of the seaports, pointing out that no single agency can perform better without assistance from other sister agencies.
Umar said the recent misunderstanding between security officials of ABTL and customs officers would have been handled without interference from a third party apart from police.
The union boss added that the seaports belong to the designated agencies like Police, Customs, NPA, NIMASA and Immigration, stressing that they should work in peace and harmony.
‘’The functions of the various agencies at the ports are not overlapping in anyway because NIMASA is all about safety and security of the maritime domain, NPA is the landlord of the ports and the Customs are for the cargo and the Police must at all course be available in the port for security reasons, so everybody has their role to play in the port’’, Umar reiterated.
Discussion about this post