Twice in the last three weeks, attention again shifted to Tin Can Island port, Lagos. First, the port’s Customs Area Controller, Mr Tajudeen Aremu declared that the Nigeria Customs Service would soon resume its war on questionable ‘port users’ at the command; be they self-styled customs agents or miscreants masquerading as clearing agents.
Twice in the last three weeks, attention again shifted to Tin Can Island port, Lagos. First, the port’s Customs Area Controller, Mr Tajudeen Aremu declared that the Nigeria Customs Service would soon resume its war on questionable ‘port users’ at the command; be they self-styled customs agents or miscreants masquerading as clearing agents.
The following day news had it that the new Commissioner of Police in charge of Ports Authourity command; Mrs. Sherifat Disu-Olajoku had taken it a step further by actually arresting scores of persons at the port.
Since 2012, there had been three raids at the same port, leading to the arrest of several ‘port users’, including clearing agents.
An earlier raid this year led to the arrest of some identifiable leaders of some freight forwarding associations and many others, some of whom eventually landed in the popular Kirikiri prison, courtesy of the difficult bail conditions that were set by the Judge.
And as if giving credence to the seeming alliance (in this particular case) between the Nigeria Customs Service and the Judiciary, recently, the Tin Can Customs boss was quoted to have told a gathering of stakeholders who were mainly clearing agents that the Customs have concluded arrangements with the courts in order to ensure speedy trial of whoever is arrested.
Comptroller Olanrewaju also told his guests that: "We have spoken with the Police and the Port Manager, we cannot afford the crowds at the port again, what we are doing is to start a patrol, (Customs)headquarters has given us a vehicle which we will use to patrol, this process will lead to as many raids as possible".
And as if in a game of who does it first, about 48 hours after the meeting between the Tin Can CAC and the stakeholders, the Police had confirmed the arrests of 64 persons on suspicion of illegal presence within the port vicinity.
Underscoring the issue at hand, the Police commissioner was quoted as saying that : “When I assumed duties a few weeks ago, I observed that people just wake up and head for the port even when they have no business being there. They loiter around the port premises and constitute security risks to the system. We will no longer tolerate such acts. We will carry out these raids from time to time and it will be a regular exercise until we rid the port premises of undesirable elements”.
Simply put: Lagos port comprises of Tin Can port, Apapa port, Kirikiri Lighter Terminal and the Ijora facilities. All these ports account for the nine terminals, jetties and petroleum products depots in Lagos.
Surprisingly, apart from the tank farms, no other facilities can boast of the human traffic that is usually noticeable at Tin Can port on daily basis.
The question is: What is it about Tin Can port that draws crowd to it? Perhaps a look at the personae that make up the group called port users will be a good starting point. First are officials of government agencies, then there are licensed customs agents, there are also transporters or hauliers.
But the most notorious of these groups are the licensed customs agents/apprentices and the transporters, who by virtue of their engagement are not known to operate without ‘apprentices’. The license customs agent has ‘his boys’, while the transporter has motors boys and loaders.
The next question is: Are these people only engaged at Tin Can port, and the answer is NO. Some have argued that it is the type of cargo that determines the mode of clearing and the type of hands to be engaged. At Tin Can and by extension, the neighbouring PTML, used and new vehicles are a common sight. This type of cargo attract all manners of people, including clearing agents, their apprentices, drivers and motor boys, hawkers of food and drinks, sellers of petrol and diesel, battery chargers and motor technicians, operators of towing vehicles and a host of others.
With the above population of ‘stakeholders’, is anyone still in doubt as to why there is uncontrollable human traffic at Tin Can?
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