By Oluyinka Onigbinde
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) 100% Compliance Team has suspended its planned strike following an agreement with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Maritime Police Command to end the controversial blockage of containers at Nigerian ports.
National Coordinator of the NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko, announced the suspension over the weekend during a press briefing at the association’s office in Apapa, Lagos.
The decision followed a stakeholders’ meeting held on Thursday, August 27, at the NPA headquarters in Marina, Lagos, where representatives of the NPA, Maritime Police Command, Department of State Services (DSS), NAGAFF and other stakeholders discussed complaints by freight forwarders over cargo delays and the alleged arbitrary blockage of containers.
The major concern raised by NAGAFF was the continued blocking of containers by the Maritime Police even after such consignments had undergone Customs processes and were cleared for release.
According to Tanko, the practice had subjected freight forwarders and cargo owners to unnecessary delays and additional costs, particularly where containers were blocked without specific intelligence linking them to infractions.
He said while security agencies had a responsibility to act on credible intelligence, there should be no blanket blockage of containers merely on suspicion that they might contain undeclared goods.
“There is no way you can tell me all the ships and all the manifests are suspected to carry another thing. The whole container coming into the country cannot be under investigation,” Tanko said.
He said the meeting with the NPA provided clearer guidelines on how intelligence-led interventions should be handled within the ports.
Tanko disclosed that the NPA management informed stakeholders that the Federal Government had directed that there should be zero blockage of containers by the Maritime Police.
Under the new arrangement, he explained, where intelligence indicates that a container requires further investigation, the matter should be referred to the appropriate government agency rather than the police independently blocking the cargo.
He said Customs-related matters should be handled by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), while consignments suspected to contain narcotics should be referred to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Tanko identified three major resolutions reached at the meeting, including the decision to ensure zero blockage of containers by the Maritime Police, the referral of intelligence-led holds to the Nigeria Customs Service for appropriate action, and moves to reduce the number of government agencies physically operating within the ports to five as part of efforts to improve trade facilitation and ease of doing business.
He said agencies such as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) would, under the proposed arrangement, only access the ports when their specialised intervention was required.
According to him, the measures would help reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks, unnecessary cargo examinations and delays in the clearance and movement of goods.
Tanko said stakeholders had also been directed to report any container blocked by the Maritime Police after the August 27 meeting.
“We are not expecting to see any blockage from yesterday, whatsoever the reason,” he said.
He disclosed that NAGAFF would commence monitoring compliance with the resolutions through its enforcement officers from next week, warning that any container blocked after the August 27 agreement would be treated as a fresh violation and reported to the appropriate authorities.
“If there is any blockage before that day, they will unblock it. But if there is a blockage after yesterday, it is another issue on its own,” he stated.
Tanko said NAGAFF would henceforth channel specific cases directly to the authorities responsible for resolving them whenever fresh incidents occurred.
He noted that freight forwarders had previously directed some complaints to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council but said the latest engagement had clarified the appropriate channel for addressing police-related container blockage.
Explaining the suspension of the planned industrial action, Tanko said strike action should be regarded as a last resort after dialogue and other avenues of engagement had failed.
He said NAGAFF decided to suspend the strike because the major issues contained in its petition had been addressed through the resolutions reached at the NPA meeting.
“We are calling off the strike because what we complained about, a decision has been taken in our favour. So why are you going for strike? No reason,” he said.
Apart from container blockage, Tanko said NAGAFF had also raised concerns over the large number of government agencies operating at the ports and the issue of multiple sampling of cargo.
He expressed optimism that reducing the number of agencies physically stationed at the ports, while allowing specialised agencies to intervene when necessary, would reduce delays and improve the operating environment for importers, exporters and freight forwarders.
He stressed that NAGAFF’s intervention was not aimed at undermining government agencies but at ensuring that each agency operates within its statutory mandate while supporting the Federal Government’s ease-of-doing-business initiative.
Tanko warned that continued blockage of containers by agencies without direct responsibility for customs clearance could undermine efforts to improve efficiency and competitiveness at Nigerian ports.
Representatives of the NPA, Maritime Police Command and DSS attended the August 27 meeting alongside other relevant officials.
Tanko disclosed that the Maritime Police delegation included the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, the Commissioner of Police and an Assistant Commissioner of Police, while port managers were also represented.
Although NAGAFF had requested the participation of shipping lines, terminal operators and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Tanko said the NPA considered their presence unnecessary because the meeting was primarily focused on communicating and implementing the Federal Government’s directive.
He also dismissed suggestions that NAGAFF had raised the container blockage issue without evidence, insisting that the association had documentation to support its complaints and was prepared to present such evidence whenever required.
With the planned strike now suspended, the association said its immediate priority was to monitor implementation of the resolutions across Nigerian ports.
NAGAFF urged freight forwarders and other port users to remain vigilant and report any fresh cases of container blockage by the Maritime Police through the appropriate channels.
The association said it would continue engaging relevant government authorities to ensure that the resolutions translate into faster cargo clearance, reduced port delays and a more efficient operating environment for port users.
