Freight
forwarders have issued a threat to down tool in the next 21 days, if the
Federal Government failed to resolve the bottlenecks associated with accessing
the seaports.
The
group, under the auspice of National Association of Government Approved Freight
Forwarders (NAGAFF), said it is currently mobilising other sister associations
to jointly protest against the alleged extortion and unresolved difficulties in
accessing Lagos ports, despite the call up system introduced by the Nigerian
Ports Authority (NPA).
In
a letter addressed to the Executive Director, Marine and Operations, NPA, dated
November 28th, 2019, and signed by Vice-President, Western Zone of NAGAFF, Tanko
Ibrahim, the group stated: “We are therefore giving the NPA a 21-day ultimatum
from the day they received the letter, to convene this crucial summit or be
prepared to face massive strike action by the freight forwarders.” Read also:
Freight forwarders, Other Stakeholders Protest Illegal Extortion
According
to him, the call-up system has collapsed, thereby subjecting freight forwarders
to unwarranted extortion and harassment.
He
said this development has now created traffic nightmare on the port access
roads, which has thrown up lots of challenges.
“As
results of this, the Presidential Taskforce team has cashed in on the situation
to subject truckers to mindless extortion,” he alleged.
Ibrahim
further disclosed that as a result of the gridlock, the shipping companies slam
them with huge and unwarranted demurrage charges, while their container
deposits are usually mutilated or returned. Read
also: Freight forwarding during Christmas
He
continued; “These operational challenges thrown up by the gridlock have placed
additional financial burden on the freight forwarders and their principals due
to no fault of theirs.
“So
last week, the concerned freight forwarders convened a meeting where we invited
all the relevant stakeholders including the NPA, Shippers’ Council, shipping
companies, terminal operators, NARTO, AMATO, Maritime Police and all the
freight forwarding associations of ANLCA, AREFF, Council of Managing Directors,
and others.
“But
to our greatest surprise and annoyance, while other stakeholders honoured the
invitation, the shipping companies and terminal operators, who are the major
culprits of these illegalities, stayed away. Read
also: Holiday Shipping with Valuehandlers
“So
we resolved to ask the NPA management to convene another meeting where all the
stakeholders, including the recalcitrant shipping companies and terminal
operators, would be compelled to attend.
Meanwhile,
the Vice-Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce team on Apapa traffic, Kayode
Opeifa, had earlier dismissed the allegation of extortion by the team as
baseless and an attempt to blackmail the team.
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