We have no formal complaints — Customs PRO

By Eguono Odjegba

CLEARING agents and local produce traders under the auspices of All Ports Unified Freight Forwarders Practitioners Association, APUFFPA, have accused officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’ lkeja of systematically killing their businesses through official abuses and extortion.

President of the group, Prince Mike Okorie, alleged that operatives of the Unit lay siege at the precincts of the Apapa Port where they regularly divert trucks conveying export goods to their office on frivolous accusation of engaging in illicit export.

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The group whose members are exporters of local produce including treated woods, vegetables and beverages, claimed that owners of the goods are thereafter subjected to intimidation, extortion and delays sometimes lasting whole day or two, thereby missing the shipment plan and jeopardizing the delivery contract.

He explained that often the unit operatives waylaid trucks right at the entry gate of Apapa port and forced them to a detour where they initiate negotiations even when it had become glaring that nothing illegal was found in the vehicle. At other times, he said, exporters were forcefully taken to their Ikeja office where they lose time and suffer additional costs.

Narrating the experiences, he stated: “After arresting you, they force you to drive out towards Orile Iganmu or Seven Up Bottling Company for a check. Even after finding out that there is nothing illegal in your truck, they still delay you until you give them money.

“The worst is when they take you to Ikeja and after search they find nothing illegal, they still collect money or they delay you. Some time our goods are detained a full day or two days there. For the smallest infraction, they collect between N200,000 and N400,000. Some of us trade with bank loans. This overzealousness is killing our businesses.”

Okorie stated further: “We are appealing to the Comptroller General of NCS to prevail on the FOU Ikeja leadership to call his men to order. There are resident officers and men of the strike force to intercept questionable exports in the ports.”

He lamented that the prevailing atmosphere is not only detrimental to trade facilitation and ease of doing business, but indeed killing trade and impacting negatively on port trade cost efficiency.

Also speaking on the matter, a trader and exporter operating at the Lagos Ports who declined to be identified told Vanguard Maritime Report that the action of FOU operatives’ got worse since the commencement of the border closure, noting that such actions may not be unconnected with a survival strategy at the backdrop of elimination of cross border trading.

He accused the Customs headquarters of encouraging multiplicity of oversights which he argued encourage open disregard of command and territorial authority, a development he believes, cannot produce integrity or good image.

When contacted the Unit PRO, Jerry Attah said nobody has ever brought such complaints to the attention of NCS management.

Meanwhile, the Apapa Customs Area Controller, Compt. Mohammed Abba-Kura, has appealed to shippers patronizing Apapa port to always ensure that minimum international standard are met before exporting their consignment to avoid recurring incidences of returning cargoes after export.

Vanguard