Chief Onuchukwu Clark, the President, Importers Association of Nigeria (IMAN), has called for immediate re-opening of Fano Bonded Terminal sealed by the Lagos State Government.

Clark said in Lagos that owners of the terminal should device a mechanism to solve the problem with the state government. The terminal was sealed off on Friday on the order of the Permanent Secretary, State Lands Bureau over alleged contravention of Land Rules Act Cap 15 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It reports that the terminal was deserted by both licensed customs agents and other government agencies as importers were counting their losses with uncertainties of how long their goods would stay in the terminal.

The association president said that many of its members had been complaining that their goods were trapped in the terminal, saying that the best thing to do would be a quick resolution of the problem.

Clark said that the dispute should be resolved on time to save importers whose goods were locked in the terminal from recording losses. He blamed management of the terminal for not abiding by the rules of the state government in the area of land management.

According to him, as an organised body, the action taken by the Lagos State Government was backed by an Act of the National Assembly (Land Use Act).

“If we decide not to patronise the terminal, they would not remain in business,” he said. Clark said that there were many bonded terminals in Lagos which importers could use as alternative to the sealed one.

He said that it was not the best to stop patronage of an investor that has paid so much money to the government to acquire a terminal. Clark said that the importers using the terminal were waiting to see if the management of the terminal would pass the burden (demurrage) of their land dispute with the state government to them.

“We (importers) are not the one that sealed the terminal and we are not the one that petitioned the government to seal the terminal. We should not be made to bear the responsibility for their lawlessness,” Clark said.

He said that the importers would wait for the management of the bonded terminal to resolve the problem with the state government.