Arbitrary Charges: STOAN, Shipping Coys Seek Out-of-Court Settlement With Shippers’ Council

There are indications that some members of Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) and the Association of Shipping Line Agencies (ASLA) have been approaching the Nigerian Shippers’ Council for an out-of-court settlement of their cases against the Council over alleged collection of arbitrary charges at the ports
This is even as the Executive‎ Secretary of the Shippers Council, Barrister Hassan Bello on Monday told visiting members of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport that the shipping companies and terminal operators are no respecter of Nigerian laws.
‎Hinting at overtures by members of STOAN and SALS, Assistant Director, Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement of the Shippers Council; Mrs Celine Amaka at a stakeholders meeting organised by the Customs in Apapa, Lagos yesterday, said that members of the two associations are already pleading with the Council.
It would be recalled that Justice Ibrahim Buba had ruled in favour of the Council in March 2015 and also directed that the two bodies should refund N1trillion as monies illegally charged Nigerian importers.
However, the STOAN and ASLA have gone to the Appeal Court to appeal Justice Buba’s judgment.
Speaking yesterday, Celine said‎: “Some of them have come to us to appeal, saying that they didn’t come to this country to go to court, that they came to this country to work and make profit, and that we should please know how to settle”
“But sometimes when they (STOAN, ASLA members) get back within their association members, some of them will begin to talk tough” she said.
She assured that the Federal Government is solidly behind the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and that importers and agents should exercise patience as they will soon begin to see the benefits of the council being the economic regulator of ports.
Meanwhile, Executive Secretary of the Council, Barrister Hassan Bello had told members of the Senate Committee who visited the Council on Monday that the court has recognized the appointment of the Council as an economic regulator, but lamented that terminal operators do not respect Nigerian laws.
“How can the President make Nigerian Shippers’’ Council a regulator and it is gazetted and you are saying you don’t recognize it, how can the court make a landmark decision and you say you don’t care, is it not surprising, it is because they don’t have respect for Nigerian laws”
“We are bent over all the time, criticized that we are too lenient with them. But with this committee and the calibre of people here, I believe nobody can toil with you” he said.