Clearing Agents Raise Alarm Over Maritime Police Stopping Already Cleared Containers, Demanding N200k

—Alleges Shippers Council Aware of Extortion Racket, But Helpless

By DAPO OLAWUNI

Clearing Agents at Lagos ports have raised an alarm over alleged extortion by officers of Maritime Police Command, Kam Salem House, Ikoyi to the tune of N200,000 per container, even as they lament the action is frustrating the ease of doing business as well as delays in cargo delivery and unacceptable demurrage.
In a chat with our correspondent in Lagos on Tuesday, one of the affected clearing agents who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that the Nigerian Shippers Council is aware of the activities of the Maritime Police, but that the Council is helpless.

The clearly frustrated agent also said the shipping companies are smiling to the bank in accrued demurrage collection, including the terminal operators.

Recall that earlier this month, the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) 100 per cent Compliance Team had also raised an alarm about police extortion of N1million on containers.
The group accused officers from the Zone 2 Police Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos, of indiscriminate seizures and arrest of containers at the ports.

Speaking on the modus operandi of the maritime police, the affected clearing agent alleged that the maritime police goes to the shipping company, demand for shipping manifest and writes the shipping company not to release the container.

In this month alone, he alleged that six of his containers have been intercepted at various shipping companies including ONE shipping company, CMA CGM, as well as Port & Cargo Terminal.

“The Maritime Police are frustrating our jobs, all cargo I clear majorly is biscuits, singlet, food items. At the point of cargo examination, the Port Police are present, NDLEA, DSS, Plant Quarantine, Anti-bomb squad are there and they all inspect the cargo, but as soon as the cargo is about to be released, the shipping company would tell you that the maritime police has written to stop the container.

“This is giving us headaches because when we charge the client for the cargo, I never included maritime police charges, and the cargo we are clearing is not against the law.

“The most painful thing is that the money they are charging us is exorbitant, we are agents working with time because of demurrage. Once they stop your container, the shipping company and terminal operator would charge you additional demurrage.

Before you get to the police office at kam Salem House in Ikoyi and sort out the blockage on your container, it would take two days, by so doing the time you ought to rease the cargo has lapsed. Meanwhile every agency at the port has signed the document of this container.

“The Maritime Police are making things difficult at the port and adding more to the economy of the country.
Before they can release the container, they will charge you N1million, after much begging, they will ask you to pay N200,000.

“Meanwhile all the professional charges of the agent on the container is not more than N150,000, this is making us to lose our clients.

“We need to know the relevance of the maritime police in cargo importation, their duties is to protect the waterways, already, there is a port police inside the port as part of the examination process. If the maritime police wants to be part of the examination, they should come into the port and not stress us to be coming to their office at Kam Salem House Ikoyi.

“Going to their office alone wastes time and money, and before you can be through with all the stress, the time to take delivery of the Cargo has lapsed. When you get to their office, they would ask you to be writing statements, for what? At the end of the day, they don’t really have any intelligence report on these containers, they don’t even examine it, the purpose is to extort you of money.

“I had a cargo I suppose to release last week Wednesday, they stopped it, after sorting them, on Friday they wrote that the container be released but they have made a mistake on the container number, on Monday again, they made another mistake on same container number. Who is supposed to pay for all these demurrage? After collecting N200,000 from us and all the money spent on transportation.

“The Shippers Council are aware of this racket, but they are not doing anything about it, i don’t really know the relationship they have with the Shippers Council.

“I cannot bear it anymore because I didn’t do any bad job, other agents are also facing it, my consignments are always accurate, no bad jobs.
The delay is affecting us because shipping companies, terminal operators, customs have all increased their charges. The cost of clearing cargo at Cotonou Port is cheaper, so we have competitors, our clients are leaving for these cheaper ports. After they import, they would unstuff it and bring it in, all these is because clearing from Tin Can and Apapa Port is very high” he said

Corroborating this, the National President of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Emenike Nwokeoji in a chat with our correspondent said that Maritime Police have no business intercepting already cleared cargoes at the port.

“This cargo interception was going on, and this was why I visited the former AIG Maritime, Tina Ogbodo.
When we met her, she gave instruction that any of such interception or alert letter, if it is not signed by her, that we should call her”

Emenike however said such cases would have to be brought to the knowledge of the association and verified thoroughly in order for it to take action.
According to him, a shipping company staff had been prosecuted in the past for issuing fake alert.

“The police said they were being given a bad name, they prosecuted the guy.
Let the affected agents report to us, we have various committees, we have chapters and Zonal, we also have committee on police affairs” he said

Emenike dismissed intervention of the Nigerian Shippers Council on the matter, saying that there has not been any reprieve from the Council on operational challenges.

When contacted by our correspondent, the Director, Regulatory Services Department of Nigerian Shippers Council, Mrs. Margaret Ogbonna assured that Council would take action on the extortion challenges.

“The other time we had this complaint, we intervened, but I am not really aware of this new one, we shall quickly follow up on this” she assured

Meanwhile, the Maritime Police Command has dismissed the allegations made by the clearing agents, describing it as incorrect and malicious.

Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP Okoi Arikpo said “This report is misleading and malicious, I will like you to come to my office so that i can debunk the report”