Clearing agents operating at the Tin Can Island Port yesterday raised alarm over the continual raid by men and officers of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) of the Nigeria Customs Service on a container offloading bay located within the Tin Can Port environment.
The container off-loading bay is within the premises of Conoil filling station situated at popular National Bus stop at Tin Can.
Shipping Position Daily findings revealed that the owner of the fuel station permitted agents to offload containers within its premises in order to aid quick return of the empty containers.
Speaking with pressmen on the sidelines of a rally organised by the International Freight Forwarders Association (IFFA) at the port recently, Chairman of IFFA at Tin can port, Comrade Ojo Peter Akintoye said that in the past two weeks, operatives of the FOU have visited the Tin Can Island Port on two occasions to clamp down on containers discharging vehicles at the facility.
Ojo noted that the containers were dully-cleared and discharged from the terminals and that the owners were only discharging at the premises of Conoil filling station due to the bad state of the port access roads.
According to him, "the FOU came around last week Thursday and yesterday to pick up a container that was discharging at the filling station at National bus stop which is still within the kilometre given to them by their CGC. But because of the security nature of the port, we allowed them to pick the container without any restrictions from the agents"
"The issue has been reported to the Comptroller of Tin Can Customs and the PRO has also been told. I and my executives are planning to pay a visit to the Comptroller of the FOU, so that we can have a better understanding of their operations. We believe that once a container is coming out of the port, it has been dully cleared. If there is any short coming, we have a lot of customs officers in the port at different units and they must have done what is just"
"We cannot stop them because they are protecting lives and properties, but anyone that we saw is not suppose to be arrested, we would not allow them take it away"
Ojo noted that once a container is suspected, customs usually subject it to sighting at the exit gate, but that after sighting; they close it and allow it go.
He said that during the visit of the FOU to Tin Can Port last week, the officers said they were working based on intelligence report, they had wanted to take away all discharging containers. He however said that the associations resisted.
"The FOU queried why they should offload vehicles there. But if the owner of the place does not see anything wrong with it, with the present situation of our road people believe that it is hectic taking containers on the road so they prefer to offload at the space and return the container back to the terminal"
According to him, on the second visit of the FOU men on Monday, the agents cooperated with them due to the recent seizure of arms at the port. He said that the serial importation of arms through Tin Can Port is worrisome.
Also speaking with our correspondent yesterday, a member of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) at Tin Can, Mr Austen confirmed that the FOU have been visiting the command more frequently to clamp down on dully containers.
But, in a chat with Shipping Position Daily yesterday, Public Relations Officer of FOU customs, Jerry Attah noted that the FOU is empowered to carry out patrol and surveillance functions at any spot within the country.
He stressed that the circular from the Customs Comptroller General does not ban surveillance and patrol by men and officers of FOU. He said that the officers at Tin Can could have been on a surveillance and intelligence mission.
"The circular says that all illegal checkpoints should be disbanded, it did not state that surveillance or patrol should stop, if you see any of our men around Tin Can, they on information patrol and this is what the law prescribe, even in section 47 and 58 it empowers us to move freely, even to any area we suspect to house contraband, even if it is in your room and we have information on smuggled items"
"It was only checkpoints that was disbanded, along Seme border now we only have two checkpoints, Agbara and Gbaji, this does not mean you would not see patrol teams on the road but they don't last beyond twenty four hours" He said
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