By GODFREY BIVBERE

Clearing agents operating in Apapa port have attributed their protest which led to the shutting down of the weekend to activities of Customs Intelligence Unit, CIU, who they accused of conniving with their counterparts in the Federal Operations Unit, FOU, to detain their containers.

The agents noted that the action of the CIU officials is a reaction to the Comptroller General of Customs, Abdullahi Dikko’s directive that CIU should leave the terminals. The agents had embarked on a peaceful protest which grounded Apapa port operations for several hours. The peaceful protest which was coordinated by the Apapa chapters of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF and National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, NCMDLCA, saw the agents first blocking the Apapa Customs office before heading to the port gate.

The placard carrying agents complained about the highhandedness of the CIU officials at the Command, who now resort to taking the number of their containers and handing same to the FOU operatives for detention when such containers are to exit the port.

According to the Chairman of NCMDLCA Apapa, Ibrahim Tanko, before the directive by the Customs helmsman, CIU operatives were working and giving tags as clearance for consignments to leave the ports.

He, however said that they have resorted to giving the number of containers to FOU officials who refused to allow them leave the port.He also complained that the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report, PAAR, introduced by the Service to replace the Risk Assessment Report, RAR, hitherto operated by the three Service Providers, is not working.

Another agent who spoke with Vanguard explained that between Monday and Friday over 200 containers are held back by both the FOU and enforcement unit of the Command.